Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde has thanked his Movistar team after he moved to the top of the UCI’s WorldTour ranking, just over three months after he returned to competition after a lengthy suspension.
Valverde, who won the ranking in 2006 and 2008 when it was called the ProTour, finished second in the opening Santos Tour Down Under in January.
He was beaten there by the Australian Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge), although he did have the consolation of taking a stage.
Valverde then moved to the head of the standings when he finished third overall in Paris-Nice yesterday.
The performance was not without controversy, however, as his Movistar team drove the pace on Saturday after the rider who had been in third overall, Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma Quick Step), crashed. This led to criticism from within the peloton, with other professionals believing the team deliberately tried to benefit from Leipheimer’s misfortune.
Valverde sealed his third overall with a solid sixth on yesterday’s final stage, the Col d’Eze time trial.
It was won by the final race victor Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling), with the stage runner up Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil DCM) maintaining his second place overall.
The net result is that the points gained move Valverde above Gerrans in the WorldTour standings. Wiggins also overtakes the Australian, and now has 112 points to Valverde’s 167.
Gerrrans is on third with 110, while Westra, RadioShack Nissan’s Tiago Machado and Katusha’s Simon Spilak are fourth, fifth and sixth with 92, 72 and 62 points respectively.
“The goal when coming to this race was winning a stage, and we got it. I already stated that everything coming after that would be a bonus, and this podium really is it.,” Valverde said yesterday. “I'm really happy with the third place. Even though I'm always on front, I don't get to win the overall of Paris-Nice, but the important thing is that I'm there, fighting with the top riders in the biggest races.”
He dedicated the win to the team, and also his position atop the UCI’s standings. ‘This podium is theirs, and also the first place in the World Tour ranking, which makes me really happy and would have been impossible to reach without them,” he said.
Valverde’s success also helps Spain move to the top of the standings, overtaking Australia by 205 points to 193. Wiggins and Westra ensure that Great Britain and the Netherlands are third and fourth. They have 112 and 92 points respectively.
However his ride wasn’t enough to put Movistar on top of the team’s ranking; it remains second overall, with Wiggins’ Sky Procycling setup replacing RadioShack Nissan at the top of the standings. The latter drops to third, with GreenEdge and Westra’s Vacansoleil DCM fourth and fifth.
RadioShack Nissan’s points total will be boosted if current Tirreno-Adriatico leader Chris Horner can hold on until the end of the race tomorrow.
Next weekend’s Milan-Sanremo will also have a big effect in shaping the WorldTour table.
For now, though, Valverde will savour his time at the top.
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UCI WordTour rankings, 11 March 12:
Individual:
1 (2) VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro (MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 167
2 (- ) WIGGINS Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 112
3 (1) GERRANS Simon (GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 110
4 (- ) WESTRA Lieuwe (VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 92
5 (3) MACHADO Tiago (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 72
6 (- ) SPILAK Simon (KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 62
7 (4) ROGERS Michael (SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 61
8 (- ) VAN GARDEREN Tejay (BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 51
9 (- ) JEANNESSON Arnold (FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 40
10 (5) BAKELANTS Jan (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 40
11 (6) BOASSON HAGEN Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 34
12 (- ) MONFORT Maxime (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 30
13 (- ) CHAVANEL Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 20
14 (7) MORENO BAZAN Javier (MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 20
15 (8) GREIPEL André (LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 18
16 (9) MATTHEWS Michael (RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 15
17 (- ) KISERLOVSKI Robert (ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 10
18 (- ) MEERSMAN Gianni (LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 8
19 (- ) SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon (RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 7
20 (- ) DE GENDT Thomas (VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 7
21 (10) HUTAROVICH Yauheni (FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 7
22 (- ) BOONEN Tom (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 6
23 (- ) LARSSON Gustav (VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 6
24 (11) FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar (KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 6
25 (12) PETACCHI Alessandro (LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 6
26 (17) ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin (MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 5
27 (- ) BOLE Grega (LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 5
28 (13) RENSHAW Mark (RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 5
29 (- ) VICIOSO ARCOS Angel (KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 4
30 (14) VORGANOV Eduard (KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 4
31 (- ) VOIGT Jens (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 4
32 (15) CIOLEK Gerald (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 4
33 (- ) LEIPHEIMER Levi (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 3
34 (16) BENNATI Daniele (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 3
35 (- ) FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier (KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 2
36 (- ) HAUSSLER Heinrich (GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 2
37 (- ) PERAUD Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 2
38 (- ) GAVAZZI Francesco (ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
39 (- ) HENDERSON Greg (LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 1
40 (- ) VANMARCKE Sep (GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 1
41 (- ) HUSHOVD Thor (BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 1
42 (- ) VIVIANI Elia (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 1
43 (18) SABATINI Fabio (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 1
44 (19) MCEWEN Robbie (GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC)
Countries:
1 (2) SPAIN 205
2 (1) AUSTRALIA 193
3 (- ) GREAT BRITAIN 112
4 (- ) NETHERLANDS 92
5 (4) BELGIUM 91
6 (3) PORTUGAL 72
7 (- ) SLOVENIA 67
8 (- ) FRANCE 62
9 (- ) UNITED STATES 54
10 (5) NORWAY 35
11 (6) GERMANY 26
12 (7) ITALY 12
13 (- ) CROATIA 10
14 (8) BELARUS 7
15 (- ) SWEDEN 6
16 (9) RUSSIA 4
17 (- ) NEW ZEALAND 1
Teams:
1 (4) SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 207
2 (2) MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 192
3 (1) RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 149
4 (3) GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 111
5 (- ) VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 105
6 (7) KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 78
7 (- ) BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 52
8 (8) FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 47
9 (10) OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 33
10 (6) LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 27
11 (5) RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 27
12 (- ) ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 11
13 (9) LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 11
14 (- ) GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 3
15 (- ) AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 2
16 (11) LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 2