Valverde and Team Sky remain top of WorldTour rankings

Following the conclusion of the Eneco Tour Sunday, Alejandro Valverde remains the top ranked WorldTour rider after moving top of the standings with his Liège–Bastogne–Liège victory in April. The Movistar rider is the only rider with over 500 points so far this season with Tour de France champion Chris Froome 90 points in arrears in 432.

A successful defence of his Eneco Tour crown meant Tim Wellens was the biggest mover since the last rankings were released but hasn't cracked the top 25 riders with his tally of 115 points only good enough for 35th place. Wellens win helped Lotto Soudal improve one place in the team standings.

The biggest mover at the point end of the standings was Greg Van Avermaet as he jumped from 17th to seven having finished second to Wellens at the one-week stage race. The top six on the standings remained the same with Van Avermaet's entry pushing Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) out of the top ten.

Alberto Contador's third place is sure to change with the Giro d'Italia winner hanging his bike up for the remainder of the season. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on 365 points and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) on 322 points are likely to move ahead of the Spaniard as both riders are taking part in the Vuelta a España which awards 170 points to first place.

In the team standings, Team Sky's margin at the top remains just four points over Movistar. Sky, with 1246 points, retook the lead it lost to Katusha after the Tour de France who now sit in third place with 1130 points. Etixx-Quick Step is fourth with 908 points with another big gap to Tinkoff-Saxo in fifth place on 786 points. IAM Cycling are bottom of the 17 WorldTour teams with 187 points.

While there was no big haul of points at the Eneco Tour, Spain remain top of the nation standings with 1528 points thanks largely to Valverde, Contador and Rodríguez. Great Britain is a distant second place on 973 points while Colombia sits third on 814 points. Italy and France round out the top five on 757 and 725 points respectively.

The Vuelta a España, starting this Saturday, is the last WorldTour stage race of the season with five one-day races and the team time trial at the world champions the other remaining events on the calendar.

WorldTour standings