Contador top of WorldTour rankings ahead of Tour de France

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With the Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse both raced and won, 17 WorldTour races have now been completed in 2014 and it is Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) who sits atop the individual rankings ahead of the 101st Tour de France.

Contador conceded the lead in the individual ranking to Nairo Quintana (Movistar) after the Colombian’s Giro d'Italia victory but his second place overall at the Dauphiné behind Andrew Talanksy (Garmin-Sharp) saw Contador climb back onto the top step with 397 points.

Quintana sits second on 345 points while after a record breaking third consecutive overall victory at the Tour de Suisse, World Champion Rui Costa's (Lampre-Merida) first win in the rainbow jersey saw him collect 100 WorldTour points to move up 12 places on the rankings to third place on 268 points.

After claiming his debut win for Lampre-Merida, a relieved Costa was quick to thank his teammates and fans for their support.

"This win pays back me and my teammates for all the work we've done this week, we're happy," he said after pulling on the winner's yellow jersey.

"It's not easy to win in this [World Champion's] jersey. But I'm happy to race wearing this jersey and wanted to win wearing it. I'm not superstitious or anything and it's just great to win a third Tour de Suisse as World Champion. This win is also for all the Portuguese cycling fans that cheered for me during all of the Tour de Suisse."

Omega Pharma-Quick Step's reign as the best team continues having led since the Tour of Flanders in April with a haul of 796 points. Movistar are the second ranked team on 781 points with Tinkoff-Saxo third on 647 points.

Spain remain top of the nation's rankings, as they have done since the Volta a Catalunya, with a dominant 899 points. In second place over 200 points behind the Iberian nation, Colombia have earned 695 points and are followed by the Netherlands on 613 points and Australia in 612 points.

The next WorldTour race is the Tour de France from July 5-27 and with 200 points awarded to the overall winner, the three-week stage race is decisive in deciding the overall rankings.

Both Contador and Costa are riding the Tour and have the opportunity to add to their tallies while Quintana's next goal is the Vuelta a España in August, which awards 170 points to the overall winner.

Of the 175 riders who have scored at least one WorldTour point, 26 other riders have scored WorldTour points but they were ineligible as members of non-WorldTour teams.

Standings