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Rotorua's Julian Dean and fellow Kiwi Greg Henderson underlined their world-class sprinting status with top-four finishes on the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia.

The two New Zealanders took advantage of the final flat stage of the tour, with Dean second and Henderson fourth, both trailing German star Andre Greipel across the line at Brescia.

The pair were right in the mix at the end of the 151km stage from Levico Terme, with several other leading sprinters having withdrawn from the gruelling tour, which ends tomorrow.

It was Dean's second podium finish on the Italian classic, following his third placing in stage three when he led teammate Tyler Farrar to victory.

American star Farrar has since withdrawn, leaving Dean as the chief sprinter for his Garmin team.

It was Henderson's fifth top-five placing on the tour.

"It's a very good result for New Zealand but obviously for Jules and myself, it would have been nice to be one step higher," Henderson said.

"He [Dean] rode very smart. He didn't have any teammates to help him, he just keyed off Greipel. He's very clever, rides good position and obviously is very fast."

The Kiwis remain well back on general classification, where David Arroyo Duran of Spain leads by nearly 2 1/2 minutes from Italian Ivan Basso.

Henderson is ninth on sprinters' points as the tour enters two final mountain stages and a time trial.

Meanwhile, New Zealand track specialist Marc Ryan pulled out a strong performance to claim sixth in the fifth stage of the Ras cycling tour in Ireland.

Ryan, racing in New Zealand colours, bided his time and came home strongly despite the tough uphill finish on Seskin Hill after the 157km stage from Tipperary.

His finish, 25 seconds down on stage winner Jon Tieman-Locke, moved the Timaru rider up 10 places to 22nd overall, 4m 28s behind the leader, Sweden's Alexander Wetterhall.

Teammates Shane Archbold shone in some early breaks while Wes Gough and Aaron Gate rode superbly to cover the key breaks.

The New Zealand track squad are using the tour as part of their preparation for October's Commonwealth Games at New Delhi, India. NZPA