The big mover in the International Cycling Union (UCI) World ranking this week is Edvald Boasson Hagen, whose Vattenfall Cyclassics victory lifts him to eighth overall in the season-long competition. Eighty points for the win, added to those that the Norwegian scored for his Eneco Tour victory and two Tour de France stages, give Boasson Hagen a total of 260, which lifts him above Tour de France runner up Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek).
The competition is still led by Tour winner Cadel Evans, with 574 points, just six points ahead of Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto). Giro d’Italia winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) still sits in third place, on 471 points, which is an unchanged situation since neither of them raced in Hamburg this weekend. With Evans and Contador having ended their WorldTour seasons (Evans will ride this month’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge then finish his year), Gilbert will take the lead if he can get a good result in the coming weekend’s Grand Prix Ouest-France.
Positions four and five will also likely change soon, with Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) currently racing at the Vuelta a España, although any points gained there will not be counted until after the race finishes on September 11th.
Second place in the Vattenfall Cyclassics also sees Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step) rise from 184th to 59th in the standings, while third placed Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM) jumps from 133rd to 65th. Fourth placed Simone Ponzi (Liquigas-Cannondale) enters the rankings in 79th place, and Spanish champion José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar) goes from 69th to 46th.
Germany consolidates fifth place as Sky continues to rise
There is little change to the national rankings this week, aside from the consolidation of positions with Germany consolidating its fifth place, thanks to Ciolek’s points in Hamburg. Norway remains in 12th place, despite Boasson Hagen’s victory, but is now closing in on Switzerland in eleventh.
In the team ranking Boasson Hagen’s victory lifts Team Sky up to fifth, from seventh, pushing Lampre-ISD out of the top five. After a slow start to the season – where it failed to score a WorldTour point until Tom Boonen’s Gent-Wevelgem victory – Quick Step rises from seventeenth to sixteenth thanks to Ciolek.
None of the top teams or nations scored any points, save for Omega Pharma-Lotto, which edges closer to BMC Racing thanks to ten points earned by Jürgen Roelandts, who finished sixth in Hamburg.
UCI WorldTour ranking August 15th, 2011
1. (1) Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 574
2. (2) Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 568
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. (17) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky
9. (8) Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 252
10. (9) Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 250
…
59. (184) Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Quick Step 61
…
65. (133) Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM 57
National ranking
1. (1) Spain 1306pts
2. (2) Italy 1041
3. (3) Australia 1022
4. (4) Belgium 998
5. (5) Germany 641
…
12. (12) Norway 349
Team ranking
1. (1) Leopard Trek (Lux) 949pts
2. (2) BMC Racing Team (USA) 874
3. (4) Omega Pharma-Lotto (Bel) 855
4. (3) HTC-Highroad (USA) 764
5. (7) Sky Procycling (GBr) 702
…
16. (17) Quick Step (Bel) 357