Cycling: Henderson eyes team prospects

Greg Henderson. Photo / Getty Images

A bitterly disappointed Greg Henderson believes he may have to find a new team after Team Sky decided not to select the Kiwi cycling star for the Tour de France, which began overnight.

Henderson was left out of the nine-man squad for the world's most prestigious cycle race despite winning four races in his debut year with the British-based team.

Team Sky opted to focus solely on Bradley Wiggins' ambitions in the overall classification and overlooked the 33-year-old Kiwi, a specialist sprinter, in favour of experienced Canadian domestique Michael Barry.

Speaking to the Herald on Sunday from Spain, Henderson said: "Now I'm thinking I might have to start looking for another team. If Sky don't want me this year for the Tour de France, their objectives aren't going to change for next year.

"I was pretty upset to start with. I couldn't understand why I wouldn't go. It just came down to the goals the team wanted to achieve. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going well. I think I've proved that with four wins this season.

"But you can't make these decisions now," he added. "You have to sit back, get over the disappointment and try and reassess for the rest of the season."

Barry, who has ridden in the service of seven-time former Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong as well as British sprint star Mark Cavendish, was regarded as the better support rider to Wiggins, the English five-medal Olympic hero who finished fourth in the overall classification in last year's tour.

Sky's team principal David Brailsford explained: "We want the team to support Bradley as far as they can for the overall classification and, with that in mind, the team has been selected according to who can contribute what on particular stages.

"Greg has ridden fantastically all season but we wanted someone who can contribute in the mountains."

The beneficiaries of his Tour de France disappointment could be New Zealand cycling.

His goals for the rest of the season are competing for New Zealand at the world road cycling championships, which take place in Geelong, Australia, from September 29 to October 3, before the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, where he has aspirations of a podium finish in the road race.

"I think I will come back stronger from it [the Tour de France disappointment] and it will give me a lot of fuel for the fire," he said. "I can still have a fantastic season without going to the Tour de France.

"At the end of the day, it is only a bike race - I'm not curing cancer. I'll get over it and I'll come back stronger and prove I'm a good bike rider."

Henderson said the fact only one New Zealand rider, Julian Dean, is competing in this year's Tour de France does not reflect the overall quality of Kiwi cycling.

"It's not down to our lack of talent," he said. "It is just our positions within the teams. I still think New Zealand bikers are strong."