Henao had begun the day with a 30 second advantage over his nearest rival Dan Martin of Ireland, with Spain’s Contador a further second adrift.

Two-time winner Contador refused to give up on his hopes of winning the general classification, with the Trek–Segafredo rider launching an attack with 52 kilometres remaining of the 115km stage, which began and ended in Nice.

The Spaniard held a 50 second advantage over Henao’s group at the Col d'Eze, the final climb of the eight-stage race.

Despite working with fellow Spaniards David De la Cruz and Marc Soler, Contador was unable to preserve the advantage as Henao produced an impressive descent.

Contador would have claimed the overall victory had he picked up the 10 second time bonus for the stage victory, but he was outsprinted by De la Cruz.

The Quick-Step Floors rider claimed the win in a time of 2 hours 48min and 53sec, with Contador given the same time in second.

It would prove enough for Henao to claim the overall victory, as the Colombian crossed 21 seconds down.

Due to Contador’s eight second time bonus on the stage, Henao’s margin of victory was a mere two seconds.

His triumph continues Team Sky’s impressive recent record in the event, which began with Sir Bradley Wiggins winning the race in 2012.

Australia’s Richie Porte then claimed the victory for the team in both 2013 and 2015, before Wiggins’ fellow Briton Geraint Thomas triumphed last year.

At the Tirreno-Adriatico, another WorldTour race, world champion Peter Sagan triumphed in Fermo.

The Slovakian triumphed out of a reduced group at the end of the 210km course, with France’s Thibaut Pinot ending as the runner-up.

Pinot rose to second place in the overall standings, but still trails Colombia’s Nairo Quintana by 50 seconds.