Henderson surprise winner in Vuelta's Venlo stage

They say that only two things in life are inevitable: death and taxes. Most forget to add that in cycling there's a third inevitability - the break on a dead-flat stage of a grand tour is always going to be swallowed up as the sprinters chew up the offerings available.

Today in Venlo that preordained fate met those brave enough to break away. Another day in Holland - albeit via Germany - tailored to sprinters delivered more rich rewards for the fast men. It wasn't without a trio of souls whose intentions were good, but in reality the three escapees never stood a chance.

What was unpredicted was the day's winner - New Zealander Greg Henderson benefited from the work done by his Columbia-HTC teammates in the final five kilometres to take his first win in a grand tour. The affable kiwi wasn't the intended 'go to man' but when he found himself in second wheel, sitting behind Borut Bozic, with only a handful of metres remaining, it was going to be Henderson's day.

Just as compatriot Hayden Roulston has enjoyed a fantastic resurgence this season with Cervélo TestTeam, his former national track teammate Henderson has carved himself a solid position in Columbia-HTC's squad and his win in Venlo is evidence of this. The 2004 scratch race world champion showed the speed he is capable of, finishing ahead of Bozic and Oscar Freire.

It moved Henderson to second on the overall standings, just six seconds behind Fabian Cancellara, who will wear the golden jersey heading into tomorrow's tricky stage to Liège. Gerald Ciolek moves down to third overall, a further two seconds behind Henderson.

"We were setting up the sprint for [André] Greipel - all day we were saying, 'Let's set it up for André'. Just after a k to go though, there was a sharp corner and Vacansoleil came flying through," said Henderson. "I was waiting and looking for Greipel but it was 150 metres to go so I thought I better go myself."

Henderson was jovial when informed it was the team's 72nd victory this season before paying tribute to the work done by team owner Bob Stapleton and directeur sportif Rolf Aldag. "Whenever there's a sprint stage, Columbia-HTC is always well represented," he added.

The third inevitability - with a twist

Itchy feet made for another long break - today's escapees were Lars Boom (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Cajasur), who took flight after just two kilometres. The open roads and crosswinds suited the Dutch riders, while Rosendo held his own and eventually was the final man caught about 20km from the finish.

Having been given a lead of 9:42 by the 28km mark, the peloton wasn't overly interested in pegging back the trio until the final third of the stage. With 57km to go the break's advantage had been lowered to 3:47 as the gap was slowly being whittled away by Saxo Bank, Team Milram, Quick Step and Garmin-Slipstream.

Unsurprisingly, these teams possess the sprinters to watch in this year's Vuelta - the likes of yesterday's winner Gerald Ciolek, Allan Davis, Tyler Farrar and Tom Boonen were all ready to snatch the low-hanging fruit

With 47km to go the gap was 2:48 and as the final 30km loomed it was time for the last-ditch efforts to begin, as Boom tested the legs of his breakaway companions before sitting up and waiting for the inevitable to happen. Both Hoogerland and Resondo delayed their capture by the peloton but eventually both were caught.

It wasn't Garmin-Slipstream's day for luck, however; within the final 15km Tyler Farrar then Julian Dean experienced mechanical issues, making the chase back on that much more difficult as the peloton opened the throttle on the run to Venlo.

On the front, meanwhile, Liquigas' contingent could be seen throwing its weight on the front next to the likes of Quick Step's crew and Milram's men, who were looking for second helpings of 'the good stuff' following Gerald Ciolek's victory yesterday in Emmen.

A slightly technical finish made for an interesting finale - there was plenty of bravado, 'wide elbows' and big turns as the sprinters' teams made a bid for space to get their man in the right position heading into the last two kilometres. Bert Grabsch powered Columbia-HTC's effort, leaving Henderson as the final man to pull away before it was expected Greipel would contest the final 200 metres on the front.

No one told the Vacansoleil team, however. Two of its riders - one being Bozic - blew through the final, chicane-type corner, effectively disrupting the flow of the lead outs. The beneficiary was Henderson, who found himself sitting in the perfect position to open his throttle not in an effort to get Greipel to the line but to fight for stage honours.

And he did just that, comfortably overpowering Bozic and staying clear of Freire for the biggest win of his career. On a day where the inevitable happened for all but the final 200 metres of another Spanish foray into the Dutch countryside, one of New Zealand's finest made it grand tour win number one.

Vuelta a España - Stage 4: September 1 - Venlo - Liège, 224km

The Vuelta will pay tribute to the northern Classics with this stage that takes in parts of the Amstel Gold and Liège-Bastogne-Liège routes. The key points for the race’s longest stage are the two climbs of the Cauberg (its zenith is where Amstel concludes) and Mont Theux, which was once a regular Liège rendezvous. These should break up the race but still expect a big group to dispute the finish.