Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) is the big mover in this week’s International Cycling Union (UCI) World Rankings, as his Critérium du Dauphiné victory sees him rise from 31st place to twelfth. The British rider netted 106 points for his overall win, and his podium placings in the race’s two time trials, which more than double’s his previous tally of 75 that he got for his third place in Paris-Nice.
None of the riders in last week’s top four of the classification was present in the Dauphiné, and so there are no changes to the lead. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) holds on to his place at the top, ahead of Giro d’Italia winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD); fourth place Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) slips down to sixth though, thanks to Dauphiné runner up Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and double stage winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha); after a bad first road stage in the Tour de Suisse, it seems unlikely that Spartacus will retake that place any time soon.
Dauphiné third place Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) rises from thirteenth to seventh.
Little change to nations but the pack of teams gets a shuffle
Joaquim Rodriguez’ points have taken Spain’s total up to the magic one thousand figure, and lifts it further clear of second place Belgium. With few of the top nations also scoring well in the Dauphiné though, there is no movement inside the top five.
The big winner in the national rankings is Great Britain who, thanks to Wiggins’ victory, moves up from tenth to seventh. This could be very important for the country as position in the standings is the big factor in allocating places at the World Championships; with British sprinter one of the big favourites for the title, Great Britain wants as many men as possible behind him.
Thanks to the Dauphiné results of Jurgen Van Den Broeck, the Omega Pharma-Lotto team moves up to second place behind HTC-Highroad. The American team scored few points in the race, with Tony Martin’s time trial victory and Kanstantsin Sivtsov’s eighth place, and so the gap to the top has closed.
Also on the move is the BMC Racing team, which rises from seventh to fifth, thanks to Cadel Evans’ Dauphiné second place.
UCI World Ranking June 13th, 2011
1. (1) Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 356pts
2. (2) Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 349
3. (3) Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 348
4. (5) Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 314
5. (6) Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha Team 288
6. (4) Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 236
7. (13) Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 224
8. (7) Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 210
9. (10) Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 203
10. (8) Matthew Goss (Aus) HTC-Highroad 203
…
12. (31) Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky 181
National ranking
1. (1) Spain 1000pts
2. (2) Italy 860
3. (3) Belgium 765
4. (4) Australia 744
5. (5) Germany 503
…
7. (10) Great Britain 344
Team ranking
1. (1) HTC-Highroad (USA) 624pts
2. (5) Omega Pharma-Lotto (Bel) 541
3. (2) Saxo Bank-SunGard (Den) 513
4. (4) RadioShack (USA) 508
5. (7) BMC Racing Team (USA) 504