Henderson goes solo, 58th

Veteran New Zealand professional Greg Henderson was left to cycle solo and had to be content with 58th placing in the gruelling men’s road race at the UCI World Championships in Virginia, United States on Monday.

He was left reasonably happy as he held his place in the main bunch, but was 55 seconds down on winner Peter Sagan (Slovakia).

Fellow Kiwis Jesse Sergent and Sam Bewley didn’t finish.

Henderson had been banking on the legs of star sprinter Lotto Soudal team-mate Andre Greipel and his German team to latch onto late in the 260km, 16-lap race.

But after Greipel was unable to go with the pace, Henderson was forced to ride the second half of the race solo. He finished at the back of the peloton as Sagan produced a remarkable solo burst off the front 3km from home.

‘‘When you are on your own the big teams don’t let you in and on such a narrow circuit I just had to keep fighting up Libby Hill each lap to pass riders,’’ a frustrated Henderson said.

‘‘Overall though, I am pleased with my effort to be competitive in that company on that sort of course.’’

Henderson, hoping his sprinter’s legs would survive the 48 climbs, said it was a challenging day. ‘‘It was a deceptively hard course with those three climbs in a row on each lap, especially the last 5km leading into Libby Hill.’’

Sergent, the Trek Factory Team rider, went with the immediate break that opened a 4-minute buffer but once they were caught after 150km his daring day was done. Bewley, the Orica GreenEdge World Tour rider, did his best to work for Henderson until he was used up late into the race.

As with the women’s race, all the breaks were eventually caught, until Sagan powered up Libby Hill for the final time to open a telling gap with some daredevil manoeuvres downhill. He held on as the pack descended, led by Australia’s Michael Matthews.

Henderson will return to Europe to complete his season with a race in Germany next weekend and conclude with the 109th running of Paris-Tours.