Reading, PA - The town of Reading, Pennsylvania was prepared to experience big-time pro cycling today. They even closed the schools so the kids could come out and watch the race. Greg Henderson the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis didn't disappoint the tens of thousands of people who lined the hilly 11 km course and packed the start/finish area.

Henderson broke clear of a small surviving front group with 200 meters to go to take a convincing victory in the Reading Classic, the second leg in the prestigious Commerce Bank Triple Crown. His teammate, Kirk O'Bee came home in fourth place.

One last hill

With 11 laps to cover, the race came down to the last lap, which featured a slightly different course than the previous 10, and included one short, sharp, shock of a climb that started with about 3 km to go, and ended with a fast, twisty run to the line.

"The race was blown to pieces by the top of that last hill," said Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. "We knew that whoever hung on up the hill would have a crack at the win."

Henderson was confident he would be there. "I felt good all day, especially on the flats," he said. "I gave myself every opportunity to be there, but in the end, either you make it over the top or you don't."

Henderson went over the top in fifth position with Matti Breschel (CSC) right behind him. However they were 14 seconds behind the front group of four, including Sergey Lagutin (Navigators), who had been the first to attack on the climb, Chris Wherry (Toyota-United), Facci Mauro (Barloworld) and Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF).

"We chased hard on the descent, and right as we were about to catch the front group, another group caught us," Henderson said. The three groups merged with about 1 km to go to form a select group of 10 riders - including Henderson and O'Bee - that would contest the sprint. "Greg was the only pure sprinter up there," Corbett noted.

With 500 meters to go, Wherry hit it, then Lagutin went. "I started to go but Pate came up on my left and I had to wait for him to get past me," Henderson explained. "I thought it would be too late, but I got on Pate's wheel, and then I went with about 200 meters to go and passed him before the last corner.

The Kiwi shot out of the final corner with a gap on the bunch and just 100 meters to go to the line. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed the win. He crossed the line, arms raised, with a convincing two bike-length gap on Lagutin. Pate just held off O'Bee for third.

Left reeling

Attacks started almost from the gun, but nothing succeeded until the mid-point of the race when a group of 20 riders driven by Jelly Belly peeled off the front and opened a gap. With five laps to go, the break was 35 seconds in front. After several failed attacks out of the break, Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators) and Andy Bajadali (Jelly Belly) jumped off the front and began to establish a lead.

While the remainder of the break started drifting back to the peloton, Kobzarenko and Bajadali worked well together to extend their lead. "Those guys were flying," Corbett said. "It took a long time and a lot of gas to bring those guys back."

They quickly established a gap of 35 seconds to the main break, extending the gap to over a minute with just three laps to go. Their lead would get out to as much as 1:20 before the chase, driven by Health Net Presented by Maxxis, CSC as well as Colavita-Sutter Home and Toyota-United, finally started to reel them in.

By the time the final lap had started, the lead was under a minute, and with 6 km to go, the peloton had them in their sights. One kilometer later, the two breakaway companions sat up, shook hands and rejoined the bunch. From there, it was a fight to line up for the last climb, and then a matter of a few minutes to see who would survive to the top.

Henderson shows he's back

The Reading win indicates that Henderson has fully recovered from a fractured hip he sustained in early March at the McLane Pacific Foothills Road Race. Henderson only returned to racing on May 31 at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. He showed his progress then by officially winning one stage, while unofficially winning another (he was relegated by a questionable judge's call in the sprint of Stage 2) and helping teammates Nathan O'Neill and Scott Moninger secure first and third overall, respectively.

"I'm really not surprised I'm back this strong," Henderson said. "I was training really hard. I asked Jeff (Corbett) if I could go to Hood to get some racing in my legs before coming east. It's really good to get some results after all that training."

A day after finishing Mt. Hood, he was back at his home in Boulder, before jumping on a plane to Pennsylvania Wednesday to join his teammates for Reading. "I was a bit worried because of all the traveling and not being able to ride much between Hood and Reading." But he showed today that his legs and his form were just fine.