UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling manager Mike Tamayo confirmed to Cyclingnews Tuesday the signing of Lotto Soudal sprinter Greg Henderson on a one-year contract. The New Zealander will use his WorldTour experience and lead-out skills to support the team's new primary sprinter, who is yet to be announced, as the team continues to shift their focus from criterium racing to week-long stage races domestically and internationally in 2017.
"Greg Henderson has been a great lead-out at Lotto Soudal," Tamayo told Cyclingnews. "We have revamped our roster this year, and we are bringing Greg in to help with our sprinters. He will help us with those guys - when to jump, how to jump, when to do a lead-out, things like that."
Henderson, 40, was a member of the team in 2006 when it was the HealthNet p/b Maxxis team. He went on to join the WorldTour with T-Mobile and Team Columbia for three seasons before linking up with Team Sky for 2010 and 2011.
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Henderson has since spent five seasons with Lotto Soudal, and as one of the faster sprinters in the WorldTour peloton, he was best known for being a key lead-out man for Andre Greipel during those years.
"Greg was a great hire," Tamayo acknowledged. "Especially because he has been a part of our team before. He has seen our growth since he left our program to join the WorldTour. And now he can bring that knowledge back home."
Henderson hasn't only been a lead-out rider, however, notching up stage victories for himself at Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the Eneco Tour. Although he has not had a win the last two seasons, his last triumph was at the Ster ZLM Toer where he won stage 2 in Buchten from a sprint ahead of Tyler Farrar and his teammate Greipel.
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