Gilbert on verge of WorldTour title

Philippe Gilbert still leads the UCI WorldTour rankings, and with only one race left, will take the title this year. There were no changes in the top five riders or nations, as Spain still leads, but there was movement in the team rankings. Omega Pharma-Lotto is still tops, but Sky is now second, swapping places with Leopard Trek which fell to third.

Gilbert has 698 points going into the season's final WorldTour race, the Giro di Lombardia on Saturday. Second-placed Cadel Evans couldn't endanger the Belgian's lead, even if he were to ride in Italy, which he is not scheduled to do. Third through fifth places are still filled by Alberto Contador, Joaquin Rodriguez and Michele Scarponi.

Sixth is now Tony Martin, who took the overall title at the Tour of Beijing, and moved up from 13th. Rounding out the top 10, each moving down a slot, are Samuel Sanchez, Bradley Wiggins Fränk Schleck and Vincenzo Nibali.

In the national rankings, Spain continues to lead Belgium, Italy, Australia and Great Britain. Germany moved up from seventh to sixth, swapping places with the Netherlands. The United States is eighth and Luxembourg is ninth. France moved from 11th to 10th, knocking Norway out of the top 10.

Omega Pharma Lotto retained its hold on the team title. But with 1079 points, it is closely followed by Sky with 1059 points, which moved up from third to second. Third is now Leopard Trek. HTC-Highroad moved up to fourth, dropping BMC to fifth. Lampre held on to its sixth-place rank, but Garmin-Cervelo moved up from 10th to seventh. Liquigas, Saxo Bank-SunGard and Rabobank all dropped one place each to round out the top 10.

WorldTour rankings as of October 9, 2011