Sky rockets in flight

Judging by yesterday's performance in the short, fast Cancer Council Classic, the Kiwi Greg Henderson is going to win a lot of races in 2010.

Judging by yesterday's performance in the short, fast Cancer Council Classic, the Kiwi Greg Henderson is going to win a lot of races in 2010.

One of the features of 2009 was Columbia-HTC's organisation and domination in the latter parts of a race, with Mark Renshaw launching Mark Cavendish to the line.

But maybe yesterday we saw a new combination that will threaten to disrupt Columbia's well drilled plans - Shane Sutton handing off to Henderson.

Sure, Renshaw is in recovery from an illness and the Manx Missile is slowly winding up his season elsewhere, but sprinting is often less about raw speed and more about tactical organisation.

And what we got from Sky yesterday was exactly that. They played their cards to perfection with their Antipodean combination.

Moving to the front late in the race, disrupting the Columbia-HTC train and setting a murderous pace that left fast men like Astana's Allan Davis gasping for breath.

Apparently speeds topped 74kph in the finale! Somebody call the cops.

I'm sensing an instant rivalry has been born with Sky's first hit-out as a team, it's going to be a treat watching Sky V Columbia-HTC in 2010.

Spare a thought for some of the other fast men not in Australian and watching that performance from the comfort of their early season training camps.

Oscar Freire, Thor Husovd and Tyler Farrar will have to take note of these new gunslingers in town.

Rabobank, Cervelo and Garmin-Transitions will have to work hard to get their men up front in the big races this year.

While Sky may not win a grand tour in 2010, the team is loaded with the kind of talent that can replicate their efforts in the Classic.

Either way, it's obviously going to be a banner year for sprinting. And maybe we're entering another golden era in 2010.