New order for UCI WorldTour rankings

Brad Wiggins' victory at Paris-Nice has seen has seen Sky ProCycling romp into the overall lead of the UCI WorldTour team rankings, with the British team moving up from fourth to first.

Whilst the British team's first ever WorldTour team rankings lead is largely thanks to Wiggins, Dutchman Lieuwe Westra's second place overall behind the Briton has helped his Vacansoleil-DCM squad enter the WorldTour team classification with an impressive fifth place (no less than three Paris-Nice stage victories for Vacansoleil-DCM, taken by Westra, Thomas De Gendt and Gustav Larsson respectively, have also made a major contribution to that.)

The biggest mover in the team rankings, though, is undoubtedly Sky ProCycling. The Britons have gained three places and now hold 207 points to Spanish line-up Team Movistar's total of 192. Former leaders RadioShack-Nissan, meanwhile, on 149 points, have slumped from first to third.

Although they remain at number two in the nations ranking, Team Movistar had other post-Paris-Nice news to celebrate. Their leader Alejandro Valverde, third in the Course Au Soleil and himself a stage winner in an uphill dash at Lac de Vassiviere, is now the top rider in the UCI WorldTour individual rankings.

A close second behind GreenEdge's Simon Gerrans in the Tour Down Under, the series' opening race, Valverde's consistency throughout the spring has earned him 167 points. Wiggins, meanwhile, has taken his first WorldTour 2012 points to become the ranking's second-classified rider, with 112, whilst Gerrans drops to third.

But Wiggins is far from being the only ‘new' face in the top ten of the individual ranking following Europe's first big WorldTour race. Westra has powered his way straight into fourth spot overall, the talented Slovenian Simon Spilak (Katusha Team) is another new addition at sixth, whilst equally promising young American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) is in eighth and former Tour de L'Avenir stage winner Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ-Big Mat) lies in ninth.

Yet another big change has taken place in the countries ranking, where Spain has shifted into the top spot, in part thanks to Valverde. However, his compatriot Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank Cycling Team) victory over Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) on stage six of Paris-Nice also helped propel Spain ahead of former leaders Australia by 12 points, 205 to 193.

The two top nations are already well clear of Great Britain which is a new entry at third overall, but with a comparatively small total of 112 points. Could this be the start of a two-way battle between Spain and Australia for the nations title in 2012? Certainly the other countries can ill-afford to rest on their laurels after such a flying start by the two top nations.

Yet more significant classification changes are certain, in any case, when Tirreno-Adriatico finishes this Wednesday and again after Milan-San Remo next Saturday.

 

WorldTour standings as of March 11

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team167pts
2Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling112Row 1 - Cell 3
3Simon Gerrans (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team110Row 2 - Cell 3
4Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team92Row 3 - Cell 3
5Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan72Row 4 - Cell 3
6Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha Team62Row 5 - Cell 3
7Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling61Row 6 - Cell 3
8Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team51Row 7 - Cell 3
9Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FdJ-Big Mat40Row 8 - Cell 3
10Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan40Row 9 - Cell 3
11Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling34Row 10 - Cell 3
12Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan30Row 11 - Cell 3
13Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep20Row 12 - Cell 3
14Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team20Row 13 - Cell 3
15André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team18Row 14 - Cell 3
16Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team15Row 15 - Cell 3
17Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team10Row 16 - Cell 3
18Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team8Row 17 - Cell 3
19Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team7Row 18 - Cell 3
20Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team7Row 19 - Cell 3
21Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FdJ-Big Mat7Row 20 - Cell 3
22Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep6Row 21 - Cell 3
23Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team6Row 22 - Cell 3
24Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team6Row 23 - Cell 3
25Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD6Row 24 - Cell 3
26Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team5Row 25 - Cell 3
27Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre - ISD5Row 26 - Cell 3
28Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team5Row 27 - Cell 3
29Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team4Row 28 - Cell 3
30Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team4Row 29 - Cell 3
31Jens Voigt (Ger) Radioshack-Nissan4Row 30 - Cell 3
32Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep4Row 31 - Cell 3
33Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep3Row 32 - Cell 3
34Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan3Row 33 - Cell 3
35Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha Team2Row 34 - Cell 3
36Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Barracuda2Row 35 - Cell 3
37Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale2Row 36 - Cell 3
38Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team1Row 37 - Cell 3
39Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Belisol Team1Row 38 - Cell 3
40Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Garmin - Barracuda1Row 39 - Cell 3
41Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team1Row 40 - Cell 3
42Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale1Row 41 - Cell 3
43Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale1Row 42 - Cell 3
44Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team1Row 43 - Cell 3
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Teams
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Sky Procycling207pts
2Movistar Team192Row 1 - Cell 3
3Radioshack-Nissan149Row 2 - Cell 3
4Greenedge Cycling Team111Row 3 - Cell 3
5Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team105Row 4 - Cell 3
6Katusha Team78Row 5 - Cell 3
7BMC Racing Team52Row 6 - Cell 3
8FdJ-Big Mat47Row 7 - Cell 3
9Omega Pharma-Quickstep33Row 8 - Cell 3
10Lotto Belisol Team27Row 9 - Cell 3
11Rabobank Cycling Team27Row 10 - Cell 3
12Astana Pro Team11Row 11 - Cell 3
13Lampre - ISD11Row 12 - Cell 3
14Garmin - Barracuda3Row 13 - Cell 3
15Ag2R La Mondiale2Row 14 - Cell 3
16Liquigas-Cannondale2Row 15 - Cell 3
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Nations
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Spain205pts
2Australia193Row 1 - Cell 3
3Great Britain112Row 2 - Cell 3
4Netherlands92Row 3 - Cell 3
5Belgium91Row 4 - Cell 3
6Portugal72Row 5 - Cell 3
7Slovenia67Row 6 - Cell 3
8France62Row 7 - Cell 3
9United States54Row 8 - Cell 3
10Norway35Row 9 - Cell 3
11Germany26Row 10 - Cell 3
12Italy12Row 11 - Cell 3
13Croatia10Row 12 - Cell 3
14Belarus7Row 13 - Cell 3
15Sweden6Row 14 - Cell 3
16Russia4Row 15 - Cell 3
17New Zealand1Row 16 - Cell 3

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