KEY POINTS:
New Zealand cyclist Greg Henderson signed off in style by winning the seventh and final stage of the Tour de Georgia in the United States today.
He used his renowned sprinting skills to good effect in the 101km circuit in downtown Atlanta to complete Team High Road's third stage win of the tour.
Henderson was among a 12-strong breakaway group which led the field by one minute for the better part of the race.
In a tough, uphill finale to the stage, Henderson muscled his way past Team CSC's Juan Jose Haedo, of Argentina, to take the stage, with Canadian Andrew Pinfold third.
Henderson's winning time was two hours 23 minutes 53 seconds.
Henderson performed prominently throughout the tour, winning the 174km third stage last week from Washington to Gainesville.
At that stage he also led the tour overall before tumbling to 93rd place on general classification during the fifth stage when he lost more than 15min after struggling for much of the stage in periodic rain.
His strong finish saw him improve to 74th overall, a little more than 27min behind the race winner, Kanstantin Sivtsov, of Belarus.
Another New Zealander, Jeremy Vennell, finished 29th overall, 5min 46sec behind Sivtsov.
Henderson was a clear winner in the sprint category, hauling in 53 points, while his nearest challenger, American Tyler Farrar, had 35.
- NZPA
