Boasson Hagen makes a move in UCI WorldTour rankings

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Edvald Boasson Hagen's victory at the GP Ouest-France-Plouay gave his UCI WorldTour individual rankings a boost on Sunday.

The Team Sky rider moved from 30th to 11 place in the points race with 211 with teammate Bradley Wiggins still leading on 601 following his awesome performance throughout the season. The Norwegian champion sacrificed his own chances to help Wiggins win the Tour de France but he has recovered well from his effort in July. He showed his form by finishing fifth in the recent Vattenfalls Cyclassics in Germany and looks set for a great final part of the season - just in time for the UCI Road World Championships in the Netherlands.

"I'm really happy. It was nice to get the win," Boasson Hagen told TeamSky.com. "The team did a really good job to keep me up there all day and heading into the finish. I felt good when I jumped clear and I felt confident that I could take the win. It has been quite a while since my last victory so it was nice to see the form is good. Hopefully it can continue."

Wiggins has not raced since the Olympic Games in London and with second-placed Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha Team) on 414 points currently racing, and leading, the Vuelta a España the gap to the Brit should be closed.

Belgian national champion Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) is third in the individual ranking with 410 points and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) is fourth with 400 points. Slovakia's Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) is fifth with 351 points.

Rui Costa, who finished in second behind Boasson Hagen in Plouay, scored 60 points and climbed to ninth place with 243 points. The talented Portuguese rider had shown his all-round ability earlier in the season by winning a stage and the overall classification of the Tour de Suisse.

Two riders in the top 10 - Matt Goss, 4th and Simon Gerrans, 8th - also proved useful for Orica-GreenEdge with the two former winners of the event showing that they were up for a repeat.

"It was a good result to have two boys in the top 10," said Sports Director Matt White. "The team rode well. It was a solid race for us. Simon gave Gossy a hand in the sprint and still hung on for eighth. It's quite handy for us in terms of WorldTour points."

Boasson Hagen's victory in Plouay further boosted Team Sky's lead in the team ranking of the UCI WorldTour. The British squad now has a massive total of 1401 points, 400 more than second placed Liquigas-Cannondale, that has 988 points. Omega Pharma-QuickStep is still third with 866 points.

The UCI WorldTour nations ranking remains unchanged, with Spain leading with 1191 points. Italy is second with 1090 points and Great Britain is third with 1041 points.

The UCI WorldTour heads to Canada next for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on September 7 and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 9. The Vuelta a España also ends on Sunday September 9, setting up for some major changes in the season-long rankings.

UCI WorldTour Rankings