Sky proves the goods with Henderson win

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Last year Greg Henderson entered the Tour Down Under week as a support rider for André Greipel. A year later, as part of Team Sky's lineup, the kiwi sprinter is the Cancer Council Helpline Classic champion.

The 33-year-old from Dunedin went into the race the team's go to man in the anticipated sprint finish according to directeur sportif Sean Yates and he delivered, taking a one-two with in-form Australian Chris Sutton as Greipel finished third after hitting out for the line a long way from home.

Team Sky put on a two-lap masterclass in how to execute the perfect leadout train at the right time - the final couple of times around the Adelaide East End circuit - to make good on the hype that has surrounded the recent launch of the British squad.

"The lead out was so fast, I've never been on the back of anything faster," said Henderson after the finish. And over the final 200 metres nobodyw as faster than Henderson and Sutton, the Antipodean connection crushing the opposition in a finale dominated by the boys in black (and blue).

One of those riders contributing the most to the team's finishing flourish was Russell Downing, the British stalwart finally proving to the world that he has what it takes to transport the world's best sprinters to the line in the best way possible.

"We were there from two to go," he explained after the finish. "Then Columbia got it organised on the left hander down the back; we were still in formation so I lead it round the outside and straight out of the corner and took the Columbia train off. The boys were yelling behind and I took it all the way down the straight and into the corner.

Downing and Mat Hayman - whose services were sorely missed today by former team Rabobank - continued to drive the Sky train despite the attempts of HTC-Columbia to negate the effects of the British team's dominance. "We had at least five guys there - it was an amazing team effort," continued Downing. "We had a plan, and it worked. That was the first race of the year and it's a dream come true."

"We said that was the deal - if we could stick to the plan and it worked, then we were a possible chance of winning, and it did," said Downing.

Runner up Sutton looked like a possible winner until the final metres, when Henderson surged forward and confirmed his status as the team's captain for the race. While the pair rode well during the recent Jayco Bay Classic, today's performance was an appetiser for season 2010.

"We were just doing our own thing," said and elated Sutton, who celebrated with uncle Shane after the stellar performance. "There's been a lot of hype in the media about Columbia versus Sky; we weren't having much to do with it, really... just concentrating on ourselves and trying to get it all right.

"It's always difficult doing one thing out training and then getting to a race - we knew that if we could put it together today it would pay off. I can't believe it - it's a dream start.

As for the squad's plans heading into the Santos Tour Down Under, Sutton reiterated team manager Dave Brailsford's comments that it won't be going for an overall victory: "We're going to take it one day at a time and just keep cool and level-headed. It's just a matter of staying calm; we've had our first win and as I said before the start, there's no pressure on us - the only pressure we feel is that which we put on ourselves," he said.

Two Tour champions make a break

The race was animated by two unlikely characters to find in a criterium breakaway, Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pereiro, the pair joined by Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne), Mikael Cherel (Française des Jeux) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) to establish a healthy lead off the front of the peloton with approximately two-thirds of the race distance covered.

The move was initiated following the third prime sprint, with the star-studded quintet quickly forming and stamping its authority on the front of the race. "I had a small desire to be in a group like that, but that one stayed away longer than we all expected and longer than I saw last year," said Armstrong, who proved he's here in much better condition that last January.

"Everybody was completely going for it, no talking and only a little bit of looking around after the corners to see how close they [the peloton] were," he added. "In terms of the mix, it was a nice balance, everybody did their work. Some guys started to taper off at the end, but that's to be expected, we get out there and don't expect to be out there that long."

And while the break remained at the head of proceedings for a lot longer than expected, the final three laps belonged to the sprinters' teams and in particular Team Sky, which blanketed the front of the field with precision and pace, resulting in the dominant finale that netted the team a 100 percent strike rate in its first outing.

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