Cycling: Top four finish for Dean, Henderson

New Zealand road cyclists Julian Dean and Greg Henderson underlined their world class sprinting status with top-four finishes on the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia today (NZT).

The two New Zealanders took advantage of the final flat stage of the tour, with Dean second and Henderson fourth, with both trailing German star Andre Greipel across the line at Brescia.

The pair were right in the mix at the end of the 151km stage from Levico Terme, with a number of other leading sprinters having withdrawn from the gruelling tour which ends on Sunday.

It was Dean's second podium finish on the Italian classic, following his third placing on stage three when he led teammate Tyler Farrar to victory.

American star Farrar has since withdrawn, leaving Dean as the chief sprinter for his Garmin team.

It was Henderson's fifth top-five placing on the tour and he looked like clocking a first win as his Team Sky took control of the start of the sprint 2km out and set to launch the Dunedin rider.

However, at the moment the final Team Sky leadout rider pulled off, Greipel jumped from behind Henderson's wheel and took the lead. Dean followed Greipel while Henderson chased hard but the German's raw speed saw him cross the line with room to spare while Henderon was pipped for third by Italian Tiziano Dall'Antonia.

Greipel is familiar with Henderson's back wheel, with the New Zealander having led him many times when part of the German's HTC Columbia team.

"Greipel was the fastest by far," Henderson said on his Twitter website today.

"Congrats. I gave it everything but I couldn't beat (him)."

The two New Zealanders remain well back on general classification, where David Arroyo Duran of Spain leads by nearly 2-1/2 minutes from Italian Ivan Basso.

Henderson is ninth on sprinters' points as the tour enters two final mountain stages and a time trial.

- NZPA