Cycling: Henderson eyes points title

Greg Henderson. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand cyclist Greg Henderson was leading the points classification heading into the eighth and final stage of the Tour of Britain but any hopes of claiming the overall tour title appeared all but over.

Slovenia's Borut Bozic took out the seventh stage from Bury St Edmunds to Colchester yesterday after beating Henderson on the line in a two-up sprint, clocking 3 hours 24 minutes 15 seconds for the 152.3km stage.

Both riders were able to chip away at Italian Michael Albasini but the tour leader still held a 1m 05s lead over second-placed Bozic, with third-placed Australian Richie Porte at 1m 14s and Henderson holding fourth, a further 2s back.

With the final stage just a circuit race around the streets of London this morning (NZT), it would have taken a catastrophe for Albasini to slip out of the lead.

But Henderson could still have claimed the points classification title for Team Sky. He had 62 points heading into the final stage, five points more than Bozic.

Team principal Dave Brailsford said Henderson had his sights on winning the points classification and a top-three finish overall.

"Our guys did a fantastic job once again and led Greg out as well as possible," he said on the Team Sky website.

- NZPA