Thanks to his fourth place overall plus strong stage performances in the Vuelta a España, Katusha rider Joaquin Rodriguez has grabbed the number one slot in the UCI world rankings from his compatriot Alberto Contador.
The 31 year old’s strong climbing in the Spanish Tour puts him at 551 points in the latest table, which has been issued by the UCI today. That elevates him from second overall, moving him past the total of 482 points amassed by Contador (Astana).
Importantly, he is now 148 points clear of Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Caisse d’Epargne), who goes from fifth to third after the Vuelta, and 161 ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC Racing). Evans didn’t line out in the Spanish Grand Tour and hasn’t raced much since breaking his elbow at the Tour de France. As a result, he has dropped from third to fourth, while Robert Gesink (Rabobank) also loses a place in going to fifth.
The biggest mover is – unsurprisingly – Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo), who rockets from 26th to sixth overall on the basis of his Vuelta victory. The remainder of the top ten sees minor movements; Philippe Gilbert picked up two stage wins in Spain and remains seventh overall, Ryder Hesjedal drops from sixth to eighth, and Tyler Farrar’s stage wins elevate him two places from eleventh. Alexandre Vinokourov rounds out the top ten, dropping from eighth.
Vuelta runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera had no points before the race but his strong performance means that he has now entered the world rankings in 31st place. Third-placed rider Peter Velits also improves greatly, going from 176th to 38th.
New number one Rodriguez was fourth overall in the Vuelta, 4’22 behind Nibali, and picked up seven top-ten placings including victory at Peña Cabarga. He was also fourth in both the points and mountains classifications. Although he weakened towards the end of the race and lost all chances of winning with a disastrous 105th in the Peñafiel time trial, he has clearly stepped up a level this year and can be considered one of the top climbers in the world.
His Vuelta showing plus his eighth overall in the Tour de France suggests that he can challenge for a Grand Tour title next year.
Moreover, his strong lead puts him in line to end the year as the world number one.
Other classifications:
Unsurprisingly, given the presence of Rodriguez, Contador and Sanchez in the top three, Spain has a clear lead in the general classification. It has 1868 points, almost 800 more than the 1,071 held by Italy. Belgium (882), Australia (850) and the United States (763) complete the top five.
Contador’s Astana team holds on at the top of the team rankings, although Liquigas-Doimo’s jump from seventh to second sees its total of 946 points being just 40 off the leader. Saxo Bank is just one point adrift in third, while Rabobank (906) and Rodriguez’ Katusha team (900) are next.
Many of the riders from the Vuelta will not race again until the world road race championships on October 3rd.
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UCI world ranking, 20 September 2010:
1 (2) RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin (Spain) TEAM KATUSHA (KAT) 551
2 (1) CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto (Spain) ASTANA (AST) 482
3 (5) SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon (Spain) CAISSE D'EPARGNE (GCE) 403
4 (3) EVANS Cadel (Australia) BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 390
5 (4) GESINK Robert (Netherlands) RABOBANK (RAB) 369
6 (26) NIBALI Vincenzo (Italy) LIQUIGAS-DOIMO (LIQ) 340
7 (7) GILBERT Philippe (Belgium) OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO (OLO) 337
8 (6) HESJEDAL Ryder (Canada) GARMIN - TRANSITIONS (GRM) 307
9 (11) FARRAR Tyler (USA) GARMIN - TRANSITIONS (GRM) 306
10 (8) VINOKOUROV Alexandre (Kazakhstan) ASTANA (AST) 283
11 (9) SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel (Spain) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) 261
12 (10) SCHLECK Andy (Luxembourg) TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 258
13 (12) CANCELLARA Fabian (Swizerland) TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 254
14 (27) SCHLECK Frank (Luxembourg) TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX) 230
15 (13) BOASSON HAGEN Edvald (Norway) SKY PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (SKY) 228
16 (16) MENCHOV Denis (Russia) RABOBANK (RAB) 221
17 (14) HORNER Christopher (USA) TEAM RADIOSHACK (RSH) 216
18 (15) BOONEN Tom (Belgium) QUICK STEP (QST) 216
19 (17) GREIPEL André (Germany) TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA (THR) 211
20 (18) BASSO Ivan (Italy) LIQUIGAS-DOIMO (LIQ) 206
Nations:
1 (1) Spain, 1,868
2 (2) Italy, 1,071
3 (3) Belgium, 882
4 (4) Australia, 850
5 (5) United States, 763
6 (6) Netherlands, 643
7 (7) Germany, 547
8 (12) Luxembourg, 488
9 (8) Russia, 453
10 (9) Norway, 441
11 (10) Switzerland, 422
12 (11) Kazakhstan, 406
13 (14) Slovenia, 390
14 (13) France, 386
15 (15) Canada, 363
16 (16) Great Britain, 331
17 (17) Ireland, 254
18 (20) Slovakia, 242
19 (18) Czech Republic, 196
20 (19) New Zealand, 145
Teams:
1 (1) Astana (Ast), 986
2 (7) Liquigas-Doimo (Liq), 946
3 (3) Team Saxo Bank (Sax), 945
4 (2) Rabobank (Rab), 906
5 (6) Team Katusha (Kat), 900
6 (4) Team Htc - Columbia (Thr), 855
7 (5) Garmin - Transitions (Grm), 839
8 (9) Omega Pharma-Lotto (Olo), 674
9 (11) Caisse D'epargne (Gce), 667
10 (8) Bmc Racing Team (Bmc), 657
11 (10) Team Radioshack (Rsh), 621
12 (13) Cervelo Test Team (Ctt), 616
13 (12) Lampre-Farnese Vini (Lam), 535
14 (14) Euskaltel - Euskadi (Eus), 525
15 (15) Sky Professional Cycling Team (Sky), 435
16 (16) Quick Step (Qst), 316
17 (19) Ag2r La Mondiale (Alm), 261
18 (17) Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti Pvc Diquigiovanni (And), 243
19 (18) Bbox Bouygues Telecom (Btl), 231
20 (20) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne (Cof), 227
(Previous Placing In Brackets)