Cycling: Henderson ends tour on high

New Zealand cyclist Greg Henderson dug into his reserves to finish seventh on the final stage of the Tour of Spain in Madrid yesterday.

Henderson completed an excellent tour for his Columbia HTC tour, having won the third stage three weeks ago.

Yesterday he helped teammate Andre Greipel claim victory in the final 110km stage from Rivas-Vaciamadrid.

All three New Zealanders completed the gruelling tour, which was won by Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, nearly one minute clear of compatriot Samuel Sanchez.

Henderson was nearly three hours behind Valverde on general classification in 123rd place.

Garmin Slipstream rider Julian Dean was 132nd and Tim Gudsell of Francaise des Jeux 136th.

Dean's efforts capped a remarkable year in which he has completed all three "Grand Tours".

The veteran European-based professional was the only cyclist this year to finish all 63 stages of the Tour of Italy, Tour of France and Tour of Spain, a rare achievement for a sprint/support specialist.

After covering more than 10,000km in 135 days of riding, Dean's wife Carole said her husband was shattered.

"He is the walking dead right now," she wrote on his website.

"He has an ever-growing list of 'ailments' which now include mouth ulcers, cold sores and the flu - all on top of his sore neck, skinless back and the hole in his knee."

- NZPA