Hood River, OR - At the end of a team-building exercise during training camp back in January, Greg Henderson the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis commented to exercise leader Scott Coady that when it came down to it, he would "bleed through his eyes for his teammates."

At the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, his first race back from fracturing a hip three months earlier, he and teammate Roman Kilun did just that for their GC team leaders Nathan O'Neill and Scott Moninger.

Both O'Neill and Moninger noted of their only two teammates in the race that they rode like an eight-man team in the final stage. "I can't sing their praises enough," O'Neill said. "They drilled it for us."

O'Neill and Moninger both made sure their efforts weren't wasted. In the final stage, the grueling Three Summits Road Race, Moninger countered an attack by Ian McKissick (Recycled Cycles) in the final 250 meters to ride away with the stage win. O'Neill finished fifth on the stage, 0:22 behind his teammate to maintain a winning margin over second place overall, Phil Zajicek (Navigators), who also finished second on the stage.

Moninger added that "They did a great job controlling from start to finish." Moninger also admitted that he was a bit surprised that in a five-day, six-stage race, a team of just four riders could maintain as much control of the race as they did.

On the final stage, it was Henderson and Kilun bringing back a dangerous break by Zajicek's teammate, Burke Swindlehurst, who at one point was more than 2:30 ahead of the bunch, making him the virtual race leader on the road.

"We got a bit worried when Burke got that far ahead," O'Neill said. "It gave us a bit of a scare." But Henderson and Kilun went to work and brought Swindlehurst back, in the process delivering O'Neill and Moninger safely to the bottom of the final climb, then rode tempo to about halfway up. O'Neill took over the pace-making from there, needing only to stay with Zajicek to complete the overall victory.

Moninger's win exacted a bit of revenge on Zajicek as well for when the Navigators rider pipped he and O'Neill on the line for the win in Stage 3.

O'Neill in control from the start

O'Neill took the leader's jersey in the opening prologue with a 0:09 win over Ryan Trebon (AEG-Toshiba). The Australian and Commonwealth Games time trial champion extended that lead in Stage 4's individual time trial, taking a 0:28 win over Kevin Rowe (Cal. Giant), but more importantly, putting 0:33 in to Zajicek, who moved up to second overall. Moninger also took advantage of a 5th place in the ITT to move up to 3rd overall, a position he held until the end.

In between, Henderson showed his recovery and return to form is nearing completion, taking the win in Stage 2, before the judges made a questionable ruling and ended up relegating him. However, Henderson got his official stage win in Saturday's afternoon criterium, easily winning an uphill sprint over Bernard Van Ulden (Navigators). "The legs got better every day," Henderson said.

His return to form bodes well for the team as he immediately heads east to join his teammates for the second leg of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown in Reading on Thursday, as well as the final race, the newly re-named Philadelphia International Championship.