Cadel Evans is the new ProTour leader (Image credit: AFP)
After eight rounds of the 2008 UCI ProTour series, Cadel Evans finds himself back in familiar territory with a narrow lead over Alejandro Valverde after the Dauphiné Libéré ended on Sunday. The 2007 ProTour champion has a two-point advantage over Valverde with another eight races remaining on the much reduced ProTour calendar. Evans' lead comes courtesy of two second place finishes at the Vuelta al País Vasco in Spain and the recent Dauphiné Libéré, while Valverde has scored points at the Amstel Gold Race and the Dauphiné.
After all the wrangling between the UCI and Grand Tour organisers, this year's ProTour calendar is markedly different with 16 races compared with 26 the year before, and does not feature any of the Grand Tours. The remaining eight events are the Tour de Suisse, Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, GP Ouest France, Eneco Tour, Deutschland-Tour, Vattenfall Cyclassics, Tour de Pologne and a final one-day event entitled 'La Finale', details of which are still to be announced.
In the teams standings, Astana continues to stake its claim as one of the strongest teams in the peloton with a 17-point lead over Team CSC with Caisse d'Eparnge in third. Spain sits comfortably atop the nations ranking followed by Italy and Belgium.
