Henderson held off his rivals to claim victory

Team Sky's Greg Henderson outsprinted his rivals to take stage two of the Tour of Britain to Stoke-on-Trent and claim the overall lead in the race.

The New Zealander got plenty of help from British team-mates Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas.

The trio opened up a big lead ahead of the peloton to put them in a strong position for the rest of the tour.

HTC Columbia rider Michael Albasini from Switzerland was second, ahead of Cervelo's Heinrich Haussler.

Wiggins and Thomas were 14th and 15th respectively.

"I had a fantastic team with me, they rode the front for me right the way through to the line," Henderson said.

"I knew the finish from a couple of years ago so I waited and waited for as long as possible. No one had come with 300m to go so I just jumped as hard as I could knowing that I could open up a gap and I just held that to the line.

"It's a nice treat to be in the yellow jersey and we'll have a go at defending it now."

Monday's third stage will take the riders 149.7km from Newtown in Powys to Swansea.

Stage Two results:

1. Greg Henderson (Sky Pro Cycling Team) 3hr 59 min 52sec
2. Michael Albasini (HTC-Columbia) same time
3. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team) st
4. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano) st
5. Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD-Neri Giambenini) st
6. Travis Meyer (Garmin-Transitions) at 0:03
7. Michael Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling) st
8. Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling) st
9. Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling) st
10. Dan Craven Rapha-Condor-Sharp st

Overall standings:

1. Greg Henderson (Sky Pro Cycling Team) 7hr 16min 23sec
2. Michael Albasini (HTC-Columbia) at 14secs
3. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team) same time
4. Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) s.t.
5. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano) 17

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