Rodriguez takes over WorldTour lead after Lombardia victory

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Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha Team) has ousted Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) from the number one spot in the UCI’s WorldTour ranking with Spain’s first ever victory in Il Lombardia.

Rodríguez took the victory in the 251km Monument in spectacular style, breaking away on the final climb of the Villa Vergano close to the finish as the rain poured down ever harder. Second was Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Samuel Sanchez, taking his fourth podium finish in Il Lombardia in a hard-fought sprint against Rigoberto Uran (Sky Procycling).

Third in the 2011 edition of Il Lombardia, any spot in 2012 from ninth to first would have allowed Rodríguez, second overall and trailing Wiggins (who was not competing) by nine points before the race, to claim what is looking likely to be a clear outright victory in the WorldTour rankings. But to do so with such an impressive lone win was the icing on the cake for the only rider to take two podium finishes in Grand Tours this season: second in the Giro d’Italia in May and then third in the Vuelta a España, after leading the race for two weeks, earlier this month.

Rodríguez now has 692 points to lead Wiggins by 91. From third to eighth in the WorldTour rankings there are no changes in places or points totals, with Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) still in third place with 410. Further down the rankings, however, Sanchez's second place in Il Lombardia and the 80 points that went with it has enabled the Spaniard to move into the top ten overall. Sanchez is now ninth, pushing Rui Faria da Costa (Team Movistar) and Vuelta Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) into tenth and eleventh places respectively.

In the WorldTour nations rankings Spain’s already impressive lead over Great Britain has increased notably thanks to their two top placings in Il Lombardia. Spain now leads by 726 points, up 190 points from their previous total. Their victory in the classification is assured with only one WorldTour event yet to take place in 2012.

There are no changes in positions for the nations ranked one through to seven but Colombia has made a big gain. In just one race, the South American nation has jumped from fourteenth to eighth overall.

Rodríguez's victory in Il Lombardia has had an important effect in the teams classification of the WorldTour, too. Although Sky Procycling has added on another 65 points and their number one spot overall is as unchallengeable as Spain’s in the nations ranking, Katusha Team - just five points behind Liquigas-Cannondale prior to the Italian Classic - is now in the runner’s up spot, 95 points ahead. Given Sky Procycling is still 418 points ahead, with just one round of 2012 World Tour racing remaining, it is mathematically impossible for Katusha Team to overhaul the Britons.

The final round of 2012 WorldTour calendar is China’s Tour of Beijing, from October 9th to 13th.