KEY POINTS:
Dunedin cyclist Greg Henderson beat the world's best riders to claim the points race at the UCI World Cup in Sydney.
His brilliant victory has ensured him a start in the world championships and is a major step towards qualification for the Beijing Olympics next year.
The former world champion beat the current Olympic champion, Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia, and the current world champion, Spain's Joan Llaneras, at the Dunc Gray Velodrome.
Henderson showed he was fully recovered from injuries suffered in a crash while competing for his T-Mobile team in Europe.
BikeNZ team manager Craig Adair said it was a superlative performance.
"It worked well to get the break and then he worked incredibly hard in a very tight field to take the title. It was a sensational ride - full of intelligence, speed and courage."
Henderson went with two other riders to put a lap on the field after 30 laps of the 30km event.
He then had to chase down what looked like a winning break with five laps left pulling up the field with him, before summoning up sufficient energy to finish third in the final sprint to ensure the title.
He finished on 31 points ahead of Spain's Toni Tauler Llull and Australia's Cameron Meyer.
New Zealand was pipped for a second medal on the night when Timaru rider Marc Ryan was edged out by Russian Alexander Serov in the bronze medal ride-off in the 4000m individual pursuit.
Christchurch's Jo Kiesanowski finished eighth and teammate Cath Cheatley 18th in the final of the scratch race, a shakedown for their key events to follow this weekend.
