Greg Henderson is feeling in great form ahead of the Tour of Britain and believes every member of the team will be looking to impress during the eight days of competition.

The New Zealander bounced back from illness with a stage-winning performance at the Eneco Tour last month before decamping to his European base in Girona to hone his sprinting skills further.

He returned to action in Wednesday's Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen and was looking to challenge there until he collided with another rider in the closing stages. Despite that setback, the 33-year-old's confidence remains high and he can't wait to get going in Rochdale on Saturday morning.

He told us: "With the virus I picked up at the Tour of Poland, I knew if I carried on racing I would eventually come good, and so it proved at the Eneco Tour.

"In between that race and the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen I did a lot of training in key areas, so it would have been nice to have put what I learned into a race situation.

"I was feeling really good over there and was motivated to contest the sprint, but then in the final few kilometres a another guy came careering across the road and damaged my front wheel - at that point my race was pretty much over.

"That said, with Wednesday's race you couldn't really have asked for better preparation ahead of the Tour of Britain.

"It was almost 200km long and pretty scary at times, but we all came through it okay and received a really good work-out, so I'm pretty happy with that."

Up to speed

Almost immediately after crossing the finish line in Belgium, Henderson and the rest of the team made the short flight over to Britain before taking some time off on Thursday for rest and recuperation.

Henderson used that time to get up to speed with the route the riders will be facing in the days to come, and he was encouraged by what he found.

He added: "Three stages look like they're definitely going to end in bunch sprints, and there might even be a fourth if you count the first stage into Blackpool. The other days will probably prove the most decisive in terms of the overall victory though, and I'm expecting a few bust-ups in the general classification.

"There is a very strong peloton as well this year, so it's going to be an interesting bike race.

"In terms of our own team tactics, we haven't discussed anything specific yet, but the guys are all fired up and we'll have to see how each stage goes.

"It could turn out to be a race for me if I can get over the hills okay, but if that task proves too difficult then the other guys are more than capable of stepping up. We'll play things by ear out there on the road before forming a plan that suits the situation."

Fantastic project

Henderson is also exited by the prospect of wearing a different coloured jersey in the tour and is pleased to help highlight Sky's Rainforest Rescue initiative:

"I first got shown the new kit on Thursday night and I'm happy to wear it because the Rainforest Rescue is such a fantastic project. We've all been made aware of what it is about and hopefully we can play some small part in making a difference."

For more information on Sky's Rainforest Rescue visit: www.sky.com/rainforestrescue.