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.
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