Cadel Evans still leads but will come under pressure as Philippe Gilbert rides the Eneco Tour
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) holds on to his lead at the top of the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour ranking, despite not scoring any points this week, since none of his classification rivals scored any either. The only rider in the top ten to take part in the Tour of Poland, the only WorldTour event of the week, was Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD); since the Italian finished deep in the peloton each day, and abandoned the race on stage seven, he failed to score any points.
Scarponi remains in fourth place on 348 points, beneath the top three of Evans on 574 points, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) on 482 and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) on 471. With Contador having ended his competitive season, and Evans heading for the USA Procycling Challenge in Colorado at the end of the month, Gilbert is hot favourite to take over at the top after the Eneco Tour, which starts today.
The big risers in the classification are the riders who finished high up in the overall standings in Poland last week, but none of those had many WorldTour points beforehand and so their rise does nothing to challenge those at the top.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), the race winner, takes 116 points for his overall victory, two stage wins and one second place. Since the Slovakian had a total of just 22 points beforehand though, from Paris-Nice and the Tour de Suisse, he now has 138 which lift him from a lowly 87th to 23rd. Second place Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) rises from 44th to 19th, having more points in hand form the Volta a Catalunya, while third placed Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM) jumps from the two-point obscurity of 149th place to 44th overall.
Lesser nations and teams rise as the to stays similarly unchanged
The lack of movement at the top of the individual WorldTour standings is reflected in those of nations and teams. With very few points scored by the top five countries, Spain holds its comfortable lead over Italy in second place an Australia in third. The only mover near the top of the classification is Great Britain, which rises from ninth to seventh, overtaking both the USA and the Netherlands, thanks to Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) taking fourth in Poland.
Leopard Trek keeps its lead at the top of the team standings, ahead of the BMC Racing Team and HTC-Highroad. The only movement near the top is fro Martin’s Garmin-Cervélo team, which rises from tenth to eighth, and Sagan’s Liquigas-Cannondale team, which jumps from twelfth to ninth.
UCI WorldTour ranking August 8th, 2011
1. (1) Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 574
2. (2) Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 482
3. (3) Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo Bank-SunGard 471
4. (4) Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-ISD 348
5. (5) Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 328
6. (6) Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 307
7. (7) Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 284
8. (8) Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 252
9. (9) Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 250
10. (10) Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 230
…
19. (44) Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Cervélo 162
…
23. (87) Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 138
…
44. (149) Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM 78
National ranking
1. (1) Spain 1306pts
2. (2) Italy 1041
3. (3) Australia 1022
4. (4) Belgium 912
5. (5) Germany 576
…
7. (9) Great Britain 504
Team ranking
1. (1) Leopard Trek (Lux) 949pts
2. (2) BMC Racing Team (USA) 844
3. (3) HTC-Highroad (USA) 764
4. (4) Omega Pharma-Lotto (Bel) 747
5. (5) Lampre-ISD (Ita) 644
…
8. (10) Garmin-Cervélo (USA) 551
9. (12) Liquigas-Cannondale (Ita) 540