Gilbert takes over WorldTour rankings lead from Evans

Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) is the new leader of the UCI WorldTour rankings following his performance in Canada's two single-day WorldTour events: Friday's Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Sunday's Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Gilbert won in Quebec on Friday to bump previous WorldTour leader and future 2012 teammate Cadel Evans (BMC) from the top spot and then extended his lead on Sunday with a third place finish in Montreal.

Gilbert's 130 points earned in Canada bring his season total to 698. Evans now holds second overall with 574 points while Alberto Contador remains in third with 471 points.

In addition to the one-day races in Canada, the season's final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, wrapped up on Sunday and provided a rankings boost to the top performers. Joaquim Rodriguez moved from 5th to 4th place, leapfrogging Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), but the biggest move in the top-20 was made by Bradley Wiggins (Sky) who jumped from 18th to 7th following his 3rd place finish.

Defending Vuelta champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) was not able to add another Vuelta title to his palmares, finishing 7th in the 2011 edition, but nonetheless the Italian moved from 15th to 9th on the WorldTour standings.

Vuelta revelation and runner-up Chris Froome (Sky) made his first appearance of the season in the WorldTour rankings, entering in 25th place.

Gilbert's continued success this season has also affected the team rankings as his Omega Pharma-Lotto squad now occupies the top position, formerly held by Leopard Trek which drops to second. The Belgian ProTour team now leads Leopard Trek by 61 points while Sky moves up into third overall, 93 points behind Omega Pharma-Lotto.

Spain remains atop the nation rankings with 1,357 points, but Belgium has closed the gap and moved into second place with 1,163 points. Italy moves into third with 1,112 points while Australia dropped from 2nd to 4th with 1,082 points.

Only two events remain on the WorldTour calendar for 2011, the Tour of Beijing, October 5-9, and the Giro di Lombardia, October 15.