UCI WorldTour rankings updated following Tirreno-Adriatico

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Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) has debuted at second place overall in the UCI WorldTour rankings after winning Tirreno-Adriatico, the seven-day Italian stage race that concluded on Tuesday, March 13.

The 27-year-old Italian started the final 9.3km time trial in third place in general classification, six seconds behind race leader Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan) and one second behind Roman Kreuziger (Astana), but a strong effort against the clock vaulted Nibali past his two GC rivals and into the final leader's jersey. Horner would claim second overall at 14 seconds, while Kreuziger would finish on the final podium in third place at 26 seconds.

Due to his overall victory and a stage victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, Nibali now has a total of 112 points and is second in the individual UCI WorldTour rankings. Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) remains in the lead with 167 points after his good performances in both the Tour Down Under in Australia and at Paris-Nice, while Paris-Nice winner Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) is third, tied with Nibali at 112 points.

"This is an important win for me," said Nibali. "I've always dreamed about winning Tirreno-Adriatico. I've won stages in the past but now I've won overall too, so I'm really happy. When I won the stage to Prati di Tivo, it was about attacking and earning a lot of time quickly, the time trial was all about mental strength."

Others benefiting from good performances at Tirreno-Adriatico include Chris Horner, now sixth in the individual WorldTour rankings with 84 points, while Roman Kreuziger is seventh with 78 points.

Thanks to Horner's strong performance and Fabian Cancellara's victory in the final time trial stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Radioshack-Nissan team has moved past Sky Procycling to take the lead in the UCI WorldTour team ranking.

The Luxembourg-registered team has 233 points, Sky Procycling holds second with 219 points, with Movistar at third with 192 points.

Spain has retained its lead in the nations ranking with 250 points. Italy has jumped from 12th to second overall with 217 points while Australia dropped from second to third at 197 points.

The next events on the WorldTour calendar are the one-day classic Milan-San Remo on March 17 and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage race, March 19-25.