PARIS - Greg Henderson mastered testing windy conditions to claim victory for Team Sky on the opening stage of the 2010 Paris-Nice race in France.
The New Zealander triumphed in a sprint finish into Contres after a combination of cross- and head-winds took a punishing toll on the riders.
Henderson completed the 203.5-kilometre trek from Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines in a time of four hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds, just edging Grega Bole (Lampre) into second place by half a bike length.
Jeremy Galland (Saur-Sojasun) took the final place on the podium, while prologue winner Lars Boom (Rabobank) retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after finishing in among 15 riders that came home 17 second ahead of the peloton.
Germany's Jens Voigt is second in the general classification for Saxo Bank, with Britain's David Millar third overall for Garmin-Transitions.
Pre-race favourite and Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, fourth after yesterday's prologue, suffered an accident with less than 5km to go, but the Spaniard recovered to finish in the pack. (PA)