Rodriguez closes the gap on Contador in UCI rankings

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Astana) still leads the UCI World Rankings that were issued today but fellow Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) has closed the gap to 54 points after finishing fifth in Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian.

Contador scored 220 points at the Tour de France and jumped to the top of the ranking with a total of 482 points. However he is unlikely to ride other major race this season and so is not expected to score more points. Rodriguez scored 30 points for his fifth place at the Clasica San Sebastian and now has 428 points, making him the biggest favourite to top the rankings at the end of the season. Rodriguez has won stage five of the Vuelta a Pais Vasco and stage 12 of the Tour de France. He is likely to score more points in the second half of the season and at the Vuelta Espana.

Cadel Evans (BMC) is third in the individual ranking with 390 point, Clasica San Sebastian winner Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) moved up from fifth to fourth and now has a total of 363 points, with Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) fifth with 304 points.

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) was the only big mover in the individual ranking, moving up from tenth to sixth with 283 points thanks to this second place behind Sanchez.

Team rankings vital for 2011 race invitations

Vinokourov's Astana team continues to dominate the team ranking and now has a total of 944 point. Saxo Bank is second with 790 points and Katusha is third with 739 points.

With the 2010 team rankings important for securing invitations to the three Grand Tours and major one-day classics on the Historic calendar in 2011, points scored in the final races of the season could be vital.

Under a new agreement between the UCI and the big-three race organisers ASO, RCS Sport and Unipublic, 17 teams will automatically be invited to races next year. Team Sky is currently in 17th place but with the future of several other teams is in doubt, their place in the top echelon of the sport seems secure. Below them, Ag2r-La Mondiale, Cofidis, BBox Bouygues Telecom, Vacansoleil and Francaise des Jeux are fighting for the final places.

Thanks to the success of Contador, Rodriguez and Sanchez, Spain still leads the UCI World Ranking for nations.

Spain has a total of 1644 points, almost double the total of Italy in second, that has 856 points. Belgium is third with 849 points, Australia is fourth with 725 points and the USA is fifth 568 points.

The next update of the World Ranking will be published after this week's Tour of Poland.

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Elite Men UCI World Rankings
1Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana482pts
2Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha428Row 1 - Cell 3
3Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team390Row 2 - Cell 3
4Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne363Row 3 - Cell 3
5Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto304Row 4 - Cell 3
6Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana283Row 5 - Cell 3
7Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank258Row 6 - Cell 3
8Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank250Row 7 - Cell 3
9Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi239Row 8 - Cell 3
10Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank239Row 9 - Cell 3
11Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions217Row 10 - Cell 3
12Chris Horner (USA) RadioShack216Row 11 - Cell 3
13Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step216Row 12 - Cell 3
14Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank213Row 13 - Cell 3
15Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo206Row 14 - Cell 3
16Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli203Row 15 - Cell 3
17Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo188Row 16 - Cell 3
18Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack174Row 17 - Cell 3
19Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto169Row 18 - Cell 3
20Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini163Row 19 - Cell 3
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Teams
1Astana944pts
2Team Saxo Bank790Row 1 - Cell 3
3Team Katusha739Row 2 - Cell 3
4Liquigas-Doimo634Row 3 - Cell 3
5Omega Pharma-Lotto621Row 4 - Cell 3
6Rabobank619Row 5 - Cell 3
7HTC - Columbia595Row 6 - Cell 3
8Caisse d'Epargne586Row 7 - Cell 3
9Team RadioShack562Row 8 - Cell 3
10Bmc Racing Team553Row 9 - Cell 3
11Cervelo Test Team464Row 10 - Cell 3
12Euskaltel - Euskadi425Row 11 - Cell 3
13Lampre-Farnese Vini420Row 12 - Cell 3
14Garmin - Transitions415Row 13 - Cell 3
15Quick Step309Row 14 - Cell 3
16Androni Giocattoli243Row 15 - Cell 3
17Team Sky231Row 16 - Cell 3
18Ag2R La Mondiale192Row 17 - Cell 3
19Cofidis148Row 18 - Cell 3
20Bbox Bouygues Telecom147Row 19 - Cell 3
21Acqua & Sapone134Row 20 - Cell 3
22Colnago - Csf Inox119Row 21 - Cell 3
23Vacansoleil115Row 22 - Cell 3
24Team Milram106Row 23 - Cell 3
25Française Des Jeux88Row 24 - Cell 3
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Nations
1Spain1644pts
2Italy856Row 1 - Cell 3
3Belgium849Row 2 - Cell 3
4Australia725Row 3 - Cell 3
5United States568Row 4 - Cell 3
6Russia423Row 5 - Cell 3
7Kazakhstan400Row 6 - Cell 3
8Luxembourg398Row 7 - Cell 3
9Switzerland355Row 8 - Cell 3
10Germany343Row 9 - Cell 3
11Netherlands317Row 10 - Cell 3
12France311Row 11 - Cell 3
13Slovenia294Row 12 - Cell 3
14Great Britain255Row 13 - Cell 3
15Canada217Row 14 - Cell 3
16Czech Republic188Row 15 - Cell 3
17Norway178Row 16 - Cell 3
18New Zealand139Row 17 - Cell 3
19Estonia111Row 18 - Cell 3
20Denmark102Row 19 - Cell 3
21Ireland87Row 20 - Cell 3
22Austria83Row 21 - Cell 3
23Portugal74Row 22 - Cell 3
24Colombia53Row 23 - Cell 3
25Slovakia43Row 24 - Cell 3

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.