Carlos Betancur tied at top of WorldTour rankings
Lampre-Merida and Australia lead team and nation standings
In winning Paris-Nice overall, Carlos Betancur not only became the first Colombian but the first rider under the guidance of Vincent Lavenu to claim victory at the 'Race to the Sun' which elevated him to the top of UCI WorldTour rankings. Betancur's victory with Ag2r-La Mondiale was also the first win by a French team in 23 years, the last being Tony Rominger's victory for Toshiba back in 1991 - the year after Betancur, 24, was born.
Betancur won two stages at the second WorldTour race of the season and wore the leader's jersey for four days to pick up 114 points at the eight-day race.
As one of the emerging Colombian general classification riders, Betancur was quick to thank his teammates for their support as the leader of the French team.
"Wear the yellow jersey during four days is fantastic. The team demonstrated this week that it is a great team and this victory is very important for us. My teammates did a huge work to support me and this evening, I'm extremely happy. I'm also proud to show Colombian cycling at the highest level."
Betancur is currently tied on 114 points with Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) at the top of the individual WorldTour rankings with world champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) in third with 88 points but again equal on points - with Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team).
Diego Ulissi is fifth with 83 points after his third place overall at the Tour Down Under which sees his Lampre-Merida team take a clear lead in the team classification on 171 points.
Orica-GreenEdge surrendered their lead to the Italian team while Ag2r are the other squad to make a major gain in the rankings as they shot up from 11th to third overall with 115 points. For a team which has struggled to bank WorldTour points, Ag2r have given themselves a strong platform to build upon for the rest of the 2014 season.
In the nation rankings, Australia maintain their hold on top spot with 334 points but again thanks to Betancur, Colombia now sit in second place with 114 points while in third, it is France on 91 points thanks to Arthur Vichot's (FDJ) third place overall at Paris-Nice.
With Tirreno-Adriatico due to finish on March 16, the WorldTour rankings are set for another reshuffle before the major main one-day races of the Spring starting with Milan-San Remo.
WorldTour rankings
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale | 114 | pts |
2 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | 114 | |
3 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida | 88 | |
4 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 88 | |
5 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 83 | |
6 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | 78 | |
7 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | 68 | |
8 | Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky | 66 | |
9 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp | 55 | |
10 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 52 | |
11 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team | 42 | |
12 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge | 31 | |
13 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | 25 | |
14 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha | 20 | |
15 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol | 16 | |
16 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | 14 | |
17 | Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp | 12 | |
18 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol | 11 | |
19 | Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team | 10 | |
20 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr | 8 | |
21 | Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team | 6 | |
22 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol | 4 | |
23 | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | 4 | |
24 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | 4 | |
25 | Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | 4 | |
26 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 4 | |
27 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 4 | |
28 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team | 3 | |
29 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 3 | |
30 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp | 2 | |
31 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 2 | |
31 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 2 | |
33 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale | 2 | |
34 | Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 2 | |
35 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale | 1 | |
36 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 1 | |
37 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha | 1 | |
38 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | 1 | |
39 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | 1 | |
40 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 1 | |
41 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | 1 | |
42 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | 1 | |
43 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Australia | 334 | pts |
2 | Colombia | 114 | |
3 | France | 91 | |
4 | Portugal | 88 | |
5 | Italy | 87 | |
6 | Spain | 68 | |
7 | Netherlands | 64 | |
8 | Denmark | 52 | |
9 | South Africa | 31 | |
10 | Germany | 30 | |
11 | Great Britain | 27 | |
12 | Slovenia | 21 | |
13 | Slovakia | 10 | |
14 | Belgium | 8 | |
15 | Russia | 4 | |
16 | Luxembourg | 4 | |
17 | Czech Republic | 3 | |
18 | Norway | 2 | |
19 | United States | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lampre-Merida | 171 | pts |
2 | Orica-GreenEdge | 150 | |
3 | Ag2r-La Mondiale | 115 | |
4 | BMC Racing Team | 99 | |
5 | Team Sky | 91 | |
6 | FDJ.fr | 86 | |
7 | Garmin Sharp | 70 | |
8 | Movistar | 68 | |
9 | Astana | 54 | |
10 | Belkin-Pro Cycling | 51 | |
11 | Lotto Belisol | 35 | |
12 | Team Katusha | 25 | |
13 | Team Giant-Shimano | 15 | |
14 | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling | 13 | |
15 | Trek Factory Racing | 4 | |
16 | Cannondale | 3 |

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