An eye opening experience

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Greg Henderson at the Tour of California.(Image credit: PhotoSport International)

Kiwi sprinter Greg Henderson, a world champion on the track, paid his dues for years in the American racing scene, winning multiple races for the Health Net-Maxxis squad. An impressive set of wins in 2006, particularly at Philly week made some European teams take notice. One of them was the re-invented T-Mobile team, who signed Henderson to his first ProTour contract. Cyclingnews' Mark Zalewski sat down with 'Hendo' as he returned back across the Atlantic for the second of his two trips here - this time to race as defending champion in Philadelphia.

Greg Henderson is one of the most personable riders in the peloton, any peloton. For the past few years he was the fastest part of the Health Net-Maxxis team that routinely rode at the top of the American peloton, with Henderson's wins including both the Reading Classic and Philadelphia International Championship during last year's Philly week. But this year, Henderson got the call-up to the 'big show' to race for the ProTour team T-Mobile, and it's been quite an eye-opener for the Kiwi. "It's just another level," he said bluntly. "I've heard people say it before but it really is another level higher."

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"The other thing I noticed is with ProTour versus hors catégorie and 1.1 races, there are massive level drop offs! Hors Categorie and 1.1 races, I feel like I can win those - I can animate the race and go in moves," he explained. "In ProTour races, there are so many guys in it that can win it. I'm not saying I can't win one, but you need everything to be going 100 percent, a little luck, perfect health, perfect conditioning...at least I do. Guys like [Liquigas' Danilo] Di Luca don't seem to have that problem at the moment!"

Henderson started out the season with good form and positive results, a programme the team management gave him, possibly to help give him confidence early in his ProTour career. "I trained really, really hard so I knew I was in really good condition," he said. "I was told to be going early in the season for Qatar and California. I was going really good in January, February, March - the results I got came then. Qatar was fast but short. You get guys at different levels there, so it was a pretty good introduction for me. It gave me a good idea of just how fast things would be going."

Henderson's first ProTour race came right after the Tour of California with Paris-Nice, but was not as ideal of a situation as he had planned. "I should have been going alright for it but I got sick after Tour of California," he said. "I remember doing these climbs and asking the doctor to re-calibrate my SRM, thinking, 'This couldn't be right - I cannot be doing this many watts up these kind of hills!' They re-calibrated it and said it was right. I was like, 'Holy s**t!' No one was getting dropped and I'm pushing 420 watts up a 20 minute climb! I'd be waiting and waiting thinking surely they will call for a gruppeto soon. Nope!

But like other racers who have an initial shock racing at the highest level, looking back, even after just a few days, it does not seem quite as drastic. "At the time it was like, Holy s**t! But you look back at it and it's amazing and a little funny." Henderson also has a fellow ProTour rookie from his US domestic racing days - Team CSC's Juan Jose Haedo. "We're pretty much in the same boat, suffering the same," said Henderson. "I look over at him and he looks like me. They go uphill like airplanes!"

Coming into Philly-week Henderson was realistic about his chances at a repeat performance. "Last year was different because I had specific preparation for this race, racing in Mt. Hood right before," he reflected. "I was 100 percent fresh and coming off an injury so it was big motivation. I'm in a totally different mindset right now. I've come over with a team full of rock stars. Anyone on the team can win these races which is just a fantastic situation - I've never been on a team like that. But if my chance happens, I can still win these races."

Though racing at the elite level is much more difficult, there are some perks that come along with it - namely the infrastructure of support and level of enthusiasm for the sport in Europe. "I knew what I was getting into - I knew it was professional and a step above what I was doing," said Henderson. "So not a major surprise, eh? But the level of support, the amount of investment and the popularity of the sport there, that is always a surprise for me. Where I came from and where I have been racing, it is amazing."

Not only is Henderson racing at a different level, his new team is racing in a different paradigm. Even with the recent revelations surrounding the T-Mobile team of the past, the T-Mobile team of today has cleaned house, which is one of the reasons there was a spot on the team for riders like Henderson - good riders with a clean reputation. "I'm on an amazing team and happy to be racing my bike. Zero tolerance is awesome, and I think it's totally respected," he said. "I've had bike riders talk to me for that reason about coming to T-Mobile because we are known as the clean team. It's cool to be a part of that."

Still, transitioning to Europe and to a foreign team did produce a little shock, particularly from meeting one of his teammates for the first time. "Bernhard Eisel's Aussie accent!" he said when asked what surprised him the most. "I did a double-take actually. I think he was hanging out with FDJ guys too long - Cookie, McGee! He can't say his Vs, so we've just been hanging it on him all week here [in Philadelphia] 'Hey Bernhard, what bikes do CSC ride?' 'Cer-W-elo'."

The past few years Henderson has lived abroad in America, a place he found comfortable - living and training in Boulder, Colorado, with a large contingent of riders racing in the US and his significant other, fellow track world champion Katie Mactier. Sure, it was far from his home in New Zealand, but at least he knew the language. "No one speaks English where I live! And now it's not one 12 hour flight home, it's two 12 hour flights," stated Henderson. "I do get homesick, but I'm lucky to have Katie over there to screw my head on straight when I get down in the dumps. She puts things back into perspective."

As for his racing schedule, he is ready to take whatever is thrown at him. "The directors keep saying to me, 'You are not an old-seasoned pro, and you want to race every race!' Other guys will be like, 'This is the seventh time I've raced this race - I can't wait for my holiday to start at the end of the season.' So that's an advantage I've got. I'm so new to all these races, and I'm learning so much every time I get out there on the bike and suffer! It's the learning curve and just getting some confidence.

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