Albert, Compton remain atop UCI 'cross standings

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Belgian champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) and US champion Katie Compton remain atop the UCI 'cross rankings, released today. Since the previous ranking from one week ago, the major event on the calendar was the penultimate round of the World Cup held in Pont-Château, France.

In the men's standings, Albert, also the World Cup leader, extended his lead slightly over compatriot Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) due to his second place finish in Pont-Château. Nys, third in the French World Cup round, remains in second overall on the UCI rankings with 1,540 points, 163 down on Albert.

Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea), who won his first World Cup of the season in Pont-Château, moves up one position into third. Pauwels' teammate, world champion Zdenek Stybar, skipped the World Cup race and dropped from third to fourth in the standings.

Frenchman Francis Mourey (FDJ), 14th in the Pont-Château, remains in fifth overall with 1,054 points.

Despite not racing since the Heusden-Zolder round of the World Cup on December 26, Katie Compton's 1,210 points were enough to keep the US champion on top of the women's standings. Dutchwoman Sanne van Paassen (BrainWash), winner of the World Cup in Pont-Château, remains in second place overall, but reduced Compton's lead to 70 points. Van Paassen, however, took over the World Cup lead from Compton and will likely clinch that series in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands on January 23.

Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) remains in third overall, 245 points behind Compton, while British champion Helen Wyman moved up one position to fourth, 137 points behind Van den Brand.

Belgian champion Sanne Cant (BKCP-Powerplus) rounds out the top five with 821 points.

Belgian champion and World Cup leader Laurens Sweeck remains in control of the junior men's standings with 150 points. Swiss and European junior champion Lars Forster holds second, 30 points down, while Dutchman Danny Van Poppel moves into third place with 98 points.

It comes as no surprise that Belgium is dominating the elite men's nation standings, calculated by totaling the points of the top three men per country. With Belgium's Niels Albert, Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels ranked first through third overall, Belgium leads the classification with 4,618 points. France is a distant second with 2,218 points, while the Czech Republic lies in third, 214 points down on France.

The Netherlands remains atop the elite women's nation standings with 2,855 points. The United States holds second overall, trailing by 712 points, while France rounds out the top three with 1,813 points.