Nys and Kupfernagel top UCI rankings

Sven Nys continues to lead the UCI cyclo-cross rankings, a position he's held for more than a month. Since the previous points tally released on December 23, 2008 Nys has won the eponymous Grote Prijs Sven Nys, maintained his World Cup lead with a sixth place finish in the Zolder, Belgium round, and extended his lead in the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee standings with a second place finish to Zdenek Stybar in the Azencross Loenhout.

Nys has extended his UCI lead over Bart Wellens, the first of a trio of Fidea Cycling Team members in the top four, who remains in second place position 635 points behind Nys. Wellens' form has steadily improved throughout the season confirmed by a win in the GP de Ster. Kevin Pauwels's position, too, remains unchanged in third place while a pair of wins by Zdenek Stybar has vaulted his position from sixth to fourth.

Niels Albert has returned to competition following his recovery from a ruptured spleen and has ended his steady descent from first to his present position in fifth with a new influx of points. Sven Vanthourenhout has steadily risen through the rankings this season and makes his first appearance in the top ten.

On the women's side, Hanka Kupfernagel remains atop the standings and has slightly lengthened her lead over Daphny Van Den Brand and Katie Compton, primarily due to her second place finish in the Zolder, Belgium World Cup event. The top five women in the rankings remained unchanged in their positions from the previous poll while the women in sixth through tenth underwent a slight shuffling in rank. Christel Ferrier-Bruneau and Helen Wyman swapped sixth and seventh from the previous ranking while Wendy Simms and Saskia Elemans similarly swapped ninth and tenth position since the December 23, 2008 ranking.