Jan 26th, 10. After the first event of the pro-tour season for 2010 New Zealand's Greg Henderson is 3rd on the UCI Ranking after Andre Greipel and Luis Leon Sanchez.

Henderson 3rd in first UCI World Rankings for 2010 ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Henderson's two wins in 2010, at the Jayco Bay Classic in Melbourne and the Cancer Council Helpline Classic in Adelaide, don't count towards the UCI Rankings, only his placings during the six stage Santos Tour Down Under.

Not surprisingly, Santos Tour Down Under winner Greipel leads the individual rankings and his team HTC Columbia the team ranking after their dominance in South Adelaide this last week.  The German won the tour with three sprint wins in the six stage tour.

Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez is second on the rankings after his win on the queen stage of the Australian tour where he fended off a great attack by World Champion Cadel Evans who enters the 2010 rankings in 6th position.

With Australia having three riders in the Top 10 individual rankings, Robbie McEwen 4th, Luke Roberts 5th and Evans 6th, Australia earned the top spot in the nation's classification.

New Zealand is 4th.

McEwen's strong comeback after his leg injury in 2009 helped pull Katusha into 2nd position on the team's classification while Sanchez's stage win and teammate Alejandro Valverde's 2nd and 3rd placings at the tour earned Caisse d'Epargne 4rd ranked team.

Individual Ranking

Nation Ranking

Team Ranking

Source: Uci.ch