While Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates continue to dominate the UCI World Rankings for individual riders and teams, respectively, the period of the Vuelta a España has caused some significant shifts in the teams below them.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, the fifth-best team in the last three-year WorldTour relegation rankings (2020-2022) suffered last year and ended the season ranked only 10th. Before the Vuelta, they were in 7th but, thanks to Primož Roglič's overall victory they leapfrogged ahead of Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-Quickstep and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale into 4th.
One of the sport's richest teams had few worries about being relegated from the WorldTour, however, nor did Visma-Lease a Bike, who continue to be the second-best team in the world, a startling 13,163 points behind Pogačar's team.
Lidl-Trek continued their ascent toward super-team status, climbing into third place in the 2024 rankings, helped by Mattias Skjelmose's fifth place overall in the Vuelta a España as well as top results from Thibau Nys at Tour of Poland and Jonathan Milan and Mads Pedersen in the Deutschland Tour and Milan in the Renewi Tour.
The gap between Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike is a mere fraction of UAE's massive lead, with 2,914 points separating the two teams. However, Lidl-Trek's rise is still an impressive improvement on last year's 6th place.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale even slipped one position into seventh despite Ben O'Connor's breakthrough Grand Tour podium due to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's strong rise.
The difference between Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Decathlon is now 1,014 points compared to the 440-point difference before the Vuelta. But one must not discount Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's major improvement on their 18th place in the 2023 rankings.
However, because of their strong 2023 season, Bahrain Victorious won't have to worry as much about the three-year relegation as Cofidis, who were 15th last season and 20th so far this year.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels have even more to be concerned about after dropping two places into 19th for the year, the same rank they ended 2023 with.
In the combined 2023-2024 points, Cofidis have a 1,723-point lead over Arkéa in 18th and, DSM have a 725-point buffer on Cofidis, too. It's a long way for Arkéa to go to remain in the WorldTour.
It's an even longer route for Astana Qazaqstan, 21st for this year after ending last season in 20th. They're currently a massive 4,168 points behind Cofidis in the two-year totals.
The transfer season isn't over yet, and smart signings can make or break a team. Astana have picked up some solid riders in Sergio Higuita, Diego Ulissi and Wout Poels - it just remains to be seen if they can pull the team out of the relegation zone.
UCI Team Rankings as of September 10, 2024
| Current Rank (Δ 2023) | Team | 2024 Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE Team Emirates | 31372.27 |
| 2 | Team Visma-Lease a Bike | 18208.98 |
| 3 (+3) | Lidl-Trek | 15295 |
| 4 (+6) | Bora-Hansgrohe | 14987 |
| 5 (-2) | Soudal Quick-Step | 14765.97 |
| 6 (-2) | Ineos Grenadiers | 14481.3 |
| 7 (+11) | Decathlon AG2R la Mondiale Team | 13972.98 |
| 8 | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 12713 |
| 9 | Lotto Dstny | 10578.29 |
| 10 (-3) | Groupama-FDJ | 10490 |
| 11 (+5) | Israel-Premier Tech | 10257 |
| 12 (-1) | EF Education-Easypost | 9653.45 |
| 13 (-1) | Movistar Team | 9084.71 |
| 14 (-1) | Team Jayco AlUla | 8660.26 |
| 15 (+2) | Team DSM-Firmenich Postnl | 8311.3 |
| 16 (+5) | Uno-X Mobility | 8062 |
| 17 (-11) | Bahrain Victorious | 8046.74 |
| 18 (-4) | Intermarché-Wanty | 7927 |
| 19 | Arkea-B&B Hotels | 7736 |
| 20 (-5) | Cofidis | 6250.55 |
| 21 (-1) | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 5475.14 |
| 22 (+3) | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 4547 |
| 23 (-1) | Totalenergies | 3748 |
2023-2024 Team Rankings
