Luis Leon Sanchez of Caisse d’Epargne still leads the UCI’s “World Ranking” classification but now faces pressure from Quick Step’s Tom Boonen and several others. The ranking is based on the results of races in the ProTour series and the Historic calendar. Sanchez’s overall victory in last week’s Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire may well have been an impressive and prestigious victory but, as the race is not part of either series, nets him no points in this ranking.
Belgian champion Boonen’s fifth place in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix netted him a further 50 points, taking him to within six points of Sanchez. Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez and Sanchez’s Caisse d’Epargne teammate Alejandro Valverde finished fourth and second in last week’s Vuelta al Pais Vasco, taking them both to within striking distance of the top. While the top three names remain the same as last week, Valverde moves up from 13th to 4th.
Swiss champion Fabian Cancellara’s completion of the Flanders-Roubaix double on Sunday sees him leap from 10th to 5th with a total of 200 points. Another big riser is Cervélo’s Thor Hushovd, whose second place in Roubaix behind Cancellara sees him move from 33rd to 7th.
Victory in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco sees RadioShack’s Chris Horner enter the rankings in 13th place with 108 points.
Caisse d’Epargne still the team to beat
Valverde’s Pais Vasco performance has also helped his Caisse d’Epargne team maintain its lead in the team rankings. Rodriguez’ and Hushovd’s results have helped Team Katusha and the Cervélo TestTeam leapfrog over HTC-Columbia to move into second and third, respectively.
UCI World Ranking @ 12 April 2010
1. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 222pts
2. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 216
3. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 208
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 201
5. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 200
6. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) OmegaPharma-Lotto 130
7. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam 120
8. Andre Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia 119
9. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing 116
10. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Team Astana 116
…
13. Chris Horner (USA) RadioShack 108
Team Ranking @ 12 April 2010
1. Caisse d’Epargne (Spa) 429pts
2. Team Katusha (Rus) 342
3. Cervélo TestTeam (Swi) 302