Greg Henderson straight into sprint jersey

Henderson is the Sprint Ace after Stage 1 of the Tour de Wallonie.

The Kiwi was in superb condition in preparation for the Tour de France and although he did not get the call-up by Team Sky, he continued to work hard over the last few weeks.

Today he used his great form to ride straight into the sprint jersey at the Tour de Wallonie.

In the 152km opening stage it was NZ's Jesse Sergent who opened the race with aggression.

The RadioShack rider launched an attack within the first 2km and summited the first of seven categorised climbs in a three man breakaway.

Five minutes after Sergent's group was reeled in, it was Henderson's turn to attack. With three others he worked up to a maximum time gap of 3m35s as he rode up and over more climbs.

The Kiwi fastman earned maximum points in the two interim sprints before returning to the peloton with 70km to go.  

After a Cat 2 climb just 3.5km before the finish in Banneux, the stage was won by Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ). Henderson finished 12th, with the same time. 

Thanks to his interim sprint time bonuses, Henderson is 3rd on the General Classification.

The Tour de Wallonie, in the southern part of Belgium, continues for another four stages - two of which look set for a bunch sprint finale.

After this stage race, Henderson is racing the Tour of Eneco World Tour event in early August and is waiting to hear if he will contest the Vuelta Espana later that month.