With the WorldTour Ardennes triple — Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège — all taking place within one week, there were plenty of points on offer and potential for the individual, team and nations rankings to be adjusted accordingly. The winner of Amstel Gold and La Flèche were awarded 80 points and the winner of Liège, 100 points, although all three leaders remained the same ahead of the next WorldTour race, the Tour de Romandie, beginning on Tuesday
"It's was a very, very hard race and I've got to say thanks to team. I thought I didn't have the legs with 30km to go but they stayed with me and helped me in the finale. I was confident I could beat these guys in a small sprint and it went perfectly."
As the most consistent rider of the Ardennes, Valverde was a big mover on the rankings and now has 264 points while Kwiatkowski is on 244 points.
Although he didn't partake in the Ardennes, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) continues his reign at the top of the individual ranking with 308 points where he has sat since finishing second at the Volta a Catalunya. Contador has started the season strongly winning the overall at Tirenno-Adriatico and then the Tour of the Basque Country as he targets the Tour de France in July.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Since the Tour of Flanders, Omega Pharma-Quick Step have maintained its lead in the team rankings. Movistar sit in second on 453 points and in third place is BMC with 410 points while Europcar, 51 points, and Astana, 93 points, are the only teams yet to reach 100 points.
Australia were early leaders in the nation rankings but sit in third on 416 points behind Spain on 725 while Belgium occupy second place with 547 points.
