Luis León Sanchez may not have succeeded in his aim of defending his Paris-Nice title, but third place there earned him the nice consolation prize of the title of world number one rider.
The Caisse d’Epargne competitor has surged ahead of André Griepel in the World Calendar rankings, released today by the UCI.
He holds 158 points, thanks to his runner-up slot in January’s Tour Down Under plus his podium finish in Paris-Nice.
Greipel also competed in the French event but failed to finish higher than his 25th place on stage one. The Columbia HTC rider therefore remains on the 119 points he earned via his overall win plus three stage victories in Australia.
Alberto Contador (Astana) didn’t compete at the Tour Down Under but races into third place thanks to his stage win and overall victory in France.
Paris-Nice runner-up Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) goes from eleventh to fourth overall, while Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas, 7th), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi, 9th) and Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank, 10th) are also new entrants to the top ten.
Unsurprisingly, Spain now leads the nations’ rankings. It has 453 points, almost three times that of Australia (175) and Germany (170).
The Caisse d’Epargne squad of Sanchez and Valverde is far ahead of the others in the team rankings. It holds 257 points with nearest rival Team Katusha on 134. HTC-Columbia is next in line with 120.
The standings will next be updated after Tirreno-Adriatico.