Omega Pharma-Lotto takes the lead; Belgium closes on Spain with no points for Vuelta winner
Having only retaken the lead in the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour rankings on Friday, Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) has extended his lead after the GP Montréal. The Belgian champion was his usual aggressive self in the Canadian race, but was unable to prevent Rui Costa (Movistar) from staying away as part of a three-man breakaway. Gilbert, with teammate Jürgen Roelandts glued to his wheel, was closing in on the escapees in the closing few hundred metres. The two Belgians managed to catch and pass Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek), but Costa, and Pierrick Fédrigo (FDJ) managed to stay away to take the first two places.
Gilbert takes fifty points for third place, extending his total to 698, meaning he is now 124 points ahead of Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), who has finished his season, while Giro d’Italia winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) remains in third; since Contador has also put an end to his 2011 campaign he will not score any more this season.
With only the inaugural Tour of Beijing and the Giro di Lombardia to come in the series, which would net a maximum of 200 points between them, Evans is the only rider that could unseat Gilbert, were he to surprisingly resume his season.
The Vuelta a España finished on Sunday, meaning that points earned in the race have been added to the classification. Just like Tour de France fourth place Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) not receiving any points for his performance, Vuelta winner Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) gets nothing for his victory since he does not ride for one of the eighteen ProTeams.
The rest of the high performers in Spain do move up the rankings though, with second place Chris Froome (Team Sky) entering the classification for the first time in 25th place. His teammate, British champion Bradley Wiggins is also on the rise, jumping from 18th – where he was thanks to his Critérium du Dauphiné victory – to seventh.
Belgium threatens Spain as Omega Pharma-Lotto takes the lead
Thanks to Gilbert’s third place in Montréal, along with Roelandts fourth place, and the Vuelta performances of Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek) and their Omega Pharma-Lotto teammate Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium is closing in on the lead of Spain; which it has held since Contador’s Giro victory. Since Cobo scores no points for his Vuelta victory, the host nation only scores with top twenty finishers Daniel Moreno and Joaquim Rodriguez (both Katusha) and Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi), as well as stage winners Pablo Lastras (Movistar) and Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi). This adds up to just 46 points, while Belgium scores 81.
Thanks to Froome and Wiggins, Great Britain rises from sixth to fifth.
Omega Pharma-Lotto has been threatening Leopard Trek’s lead in the team standings for a number of weeks, since the Luxembourg team had barely scored since the Schleck brothers took second and third at the Tour de France. Despite Monfort’s sixth place at the Vuelta though, as well as Jakob Fuglsang’s eleventh, and Denifl’s fifth in Montréal, the Belgian team has finally knocked them off the top.
Just as they did for Great Britain, Froome’s and Wiggins’ Vuelta results lift Team Sky to third place.
UCI WorldTour ranking September 12th, 2011
1. (2) Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 698
2. (1) Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 574
3. (3) Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo Bank-SunGard 471
4. (5) Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 328
5. (4) Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-ISD 348
6. (6) Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 307
7. (18) Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky 289
8. (7) Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 284
9. (15) Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 272
10. (8) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 260
…
21. (50) Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 184
…
25. (-) Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 157
…
43. (107) Rui Costa (Por) Movistar 101
National ranking
1. (1) Spain 1357pts
2. (3) Belgium 1163
3. (4) Italy 1112
4. (2) Australia 1082
5. (6) Great Britain 790
Team ranking
1. (2) Omega Pharma-Lotto (Bel) 1079pts
2. (1) Leopard Trek (Lux) 1018
3. (4) Sky Procycling (GBr) 986
4. (3) BMC Racing Team (USA) 877
5. (5) HTC-Highroad (USA) 780