Peter Sagan’s progress up the UCI WorldTour ranking has seen the Slovakian rider move from fifth to second in the latest tables, but that will be as close as he will get to the top slot for now.
The Liquigas Cannondale rider placed third in yesterday’s Amstel Gold Race, gaining the points to bring his total to 229, seven more than Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi). However with Tom Boonen a cool 137 points ahead, Sagan’s strong showing still leaves him far off the Belgian’s total.
The Slovak has a potential opportunity to continue making inroads but, following a long Classics campaign and a racing season that began back in early February with the Tour of Qatar, he has decided to sit out the remaining two Ardennes Classics.
Instead Boonen, who is also not planning on riding Flèche Wallonne or Liège-Bastogne-Liège, must monitor the progress of several other riders as the big threats to his lead.
Those include Olympic champion Sanchez plus the Santos Tour Down Under and Milan-Sanremo victor Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge), who finished out of the points yesterday in twentieth place and dropped two places to fourth, but who could shine in the days ahead.
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas Cannondale) drops a place but stays in the top five, while Freire jumps from ninth to sixth as a result of his strong ride yesterday and eventual fourth place.
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) are seventh and ninth overall and, like the other explosive riders, could both be in the running for victories this week.
Yesterday’s winner Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) had no WorldTour points prior to yesterday but picked up 80 for his win, moving into the standings in 17th place. He’ll aim to improve, as will yesterday’s runner-up Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol), now 27th.
Gilbert, who won last year’s WorldTour contest, also entered the standings. However he’s back in 50th place and has a huge battle on his hands if he is to contend for the title this year.
Teams and nations:
The positions of teams and nations have undergone fewer changes than the individual ranking, with just one modification of note in the top eight. Liquigas Cannondale has overtaken Katusha to move into second place, slotting in behind the ongoing leader Omega Pharma Quick Step.
Places four through eight remain unchanged, and are filled by Sky Procycling, GreenEdge, RadioShack Nissan, the BMC Racing Team and Euskaltel Euskadi, respectively.
Gasparotto’s victory yesterday elevates Astana four places to ninth, displacing Movistar.
Meanwhile Spain remains steady atop the nation’s rankings, with Italy moving from third to second and Belgium slipping back to third due to a slender five point difference.
The Netherlands, Australia, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States fill places four through to eight.
The next WorldTour races are Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne and Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
UCI WorldTour standings after Amstel Gold Race:
1 (1) BOONEN Tom, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 366
2 (5) SAGAN Peter, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 229
3 (3) SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel, EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) 222
4 (2) GERRANS Simon, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 210
5 (4) NIBALI Vincenzo, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 182
6 (9) FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 180
7 (6) VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 167
8 (7) BALLAN Alessandro, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 166
9 (8) RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 142
10 (10) ALBASINI Michael, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 112
11 (11) WIGGINS Bradley, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 112
12 (12) CUNEGO Damiano, LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 106
13 (13) HORNER Christopher, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 96
14 (14) WESTRA Lieuwe, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 92
15 (15) TERPSTRA Niki, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 90
16 (16) CANCELLARA Fabian, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 86
17 (-) GASPAROTTO Enrico, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 80
18 (17) KREUZIGER Roman, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 78
19 (18) MOLLEMA Bauke, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 77
20 (19) MACHADO Tiago, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 72
21 (20) VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen, LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 70
22 (21) BOASSON HAGEN Edvald, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 70
23 (25) NOCENTINI Rinaldo, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 67
24 (22) SPILAK Simon, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 66
25 (23) URAN URAN Rigoberto, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 63
26 (24) ROGERS Michael, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 61
27 (-) VANENDERT Jelle, LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 60
28 (26) BRESCHEL Matti, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 60
29 (29) VAN AVERMAET Greg, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 60
30 (28) MARTIN Daniel, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 60
31 (27) FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 60
32 (30) MARTIN Tony, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 52
33 (31) HOOGERLAND Johnny, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 51
34 (32) VAN GARDEREN Tejay, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 51
35 (33) SCARPONI Michele, LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 51
36 (34) EISEL Bernhard, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 50
37 (35) KISERLOVSKI Robert, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 44
38 (36) NORDHAUG Lars Petter, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 42
39 (37) BOOM Lars, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 40
40 (39) BAKELANTS Jan, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 40
41 (38) JEANNESSON Arnold, FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 40
42 (40) BENNATI Daniele, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 33
43 (41) PERAUD Jean-Christophe, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 32
44 (42) VANMARCKE Sep, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 31
45 (45) MONFORT Maxime, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 30
46 (44) PAOLINI Luca, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 30
47 (43) TOSATTO Matteo, TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 30
48 (46) CHAVANEL Sylvain, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 24
49 (47) POELS Wouter, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 24
50 (-) GILBERT Philippe, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 22
51 (48) GREIPEL André, LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 22
52 (49) CARRARA Matteo, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 21
53 (50) HAYMAN Mathew, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 20
54 (51) MORENO BAZAN Javier, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 20
55 (52) MATTHEWS Michael, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 16
56 (53) CATALDO Dario, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 15
57 (55) MARCATO Marco, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 14
58 (54) LADAGNOUS Matthieu, FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 14
59 (90) WEGMANN Fabian, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 12
60 (56) ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 12
61 (57) CHAINEL Steve, FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 10
62 (58) VAN SUMMEREN Johan, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 10
63 (60) RIBLON Christophe, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 10
64 (59) OSS Daniel, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 10
65 (62) MEERSMAN Gianni, LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 8
66 (61) DAVIS Allan, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 8
67 (63) HUTAROVICH Yauheni, FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 7
68 (64) DE GENDT Thomas, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 7
69 (65) SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 7
70 (66) MEYER Cameron, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 6
71 (68) IMPEY Daryl, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 6
72 (67) LARSSON Gustav, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 6
73 (69) BRAJKOVIC Janez, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 6
74 (70) CAVENDISH Mark, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 6
75 (71) PETACCHI Alessandro, LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 6
76 (72) GAVAZZI Francesco, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 5
77 (73) RENSHAW Mark, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 5
78 (74) BOLE Grega, LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) 5
79 (76) VORGANOV Eduard, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 4
80 (77) VICIOSO ARCOS Angel, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 4
81 (75) WYNANTS Maarten, RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) 4
82 (78) PARDILLA BELLON Sergio, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 4
83 (79) GOLAS Michal, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 4
84 (80) VOIGT Jens, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 4
85 (81) CIOLEK Gerald, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 4
86 (82) MENCHOV Denis, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 4
87 (83) SZMYD Sylvester, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 4
88 (84) FARRAR Tyler, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 3
89 (85) LEIPHEIMER Levi, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 3
90 (86) VISCONTI Giovanni, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 2
91 (88) HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 2
92 (92) CHEREL Mikael, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 2
93 (91) FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 2
94 (89) APPOLLONIO Davide, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 2
95 (87) HAUSSLER Heinrich, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 2
96 (97) HESJEDAL Ryder, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 1
97 (96) KIRYIENKA Vasili, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 1
98 (99) VICHOT Arthur, FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) 1
99 (101) GASTAUER Ben, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 1
100 (100) RATTO Daniele, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 1
101 (93) HUSHOVD Thor, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 1
102 (94) TUFT Svein, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 1
103 (95) HENDERSON Greg, LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) 1
104 (98) PINOTTI Marco, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 1
105 (102) SABATINI Fabio, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 1
106 (103) BELLETTI Manuel, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 1
107 (104) ROHREGGER Thomas, RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) 1
108 (105) HAEDO Juan José, TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 1
109 (106) VAN HUMMEL Kenny Robert, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 1
110 (107) BOARO Manuele, TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 1
111 (108) VIVIANI Elia, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 1
112 (109) MCEWEN Robbie, GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) 1
Nations:
1 (1) SPAIN, 771
2 (3) ITALY, 601
3 (2) BELGIUM, 596
4 (4) NETHERLANDS, 350
5 (5) AUSTRALIA, 315
6 (7) SLOVAKIA, 229
7 (6) SWITZERLAND, 198
8 (8) UNITED STATES, 153
9 (9) FRANCE, 120
10 (10) GREAT BRITAIN, 118
11 (11) NORWAY, 113
12 (12) GERMANY, 94
13 (13) CZECH REPUBLIC, 78
14 (14) SLOVENIA, 77
15 (15) PORTUGAL, 72
16 (16) COLOMBIA, 65
17 (17) DENMARK, 60
18 (18) IRELAND, 60
19 (19) AUSTRIA, 51
20 (20) CROATIA, 44
21 (21) BELARUS, 8
22 (22) RUSSIA, 8
23 (23) POLAND, 8
24 (25) SOUTH AFRICA, 6
25 (24) SWEDEN, 6
26 (26) CANADA, 2
27 (28) LUXEMBOURG, 1
28 (27) NEW ZEALAND, 1
29 (29) ARGENTINA, 1
Teams:
1 (1) OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) BEL, 547
2 (3) LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) ITA, 426
3 (2) KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) RUS, 422
4 (4) SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR, 366
5 (5) GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) AUS, 342
6 (6) RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) LUX, 327
7 (7) BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) USA, 300
8 (8) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) ESP, 222
9 (13) ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) KAZ, 213
10 (9) MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) ESP, 205
11 10) VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) NED, 202
12 11) RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) NED, 200
13 12) LAMPRE - ISD (LAM) ITA, 168
14 16) LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) BEL, 161
15 15) GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) USA, 116
16 14) AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) FRA, 112
17 17) FDJ-BIG MAT (FDJ) FRA, 72
18 18) TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) DEN, 32