Van Avermaet and Van der Breggen crowned 2017 WorldTour champions
Sky, Boels Dolmans top teams rankings at UCI Gala in China
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans) were officially crowned winners of the UCI WorldTour and Women's WorldTour, respectively, at the UCI Gala in China on Tuesday.
The ceremony, established last year, took place after the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi, the final event of the 2017 men's WorldTour calendar.
Van Avermaet, who won Paris-Roubaix, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this spring, already had top spot sewn up as early as September. Although he didn't ride Guangxi, he – unlike runner-up Chris Froome (Sky) and third-placed Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) – made the trip to China for the gala.
"I'm really proud to stand here and have this trophy in my hands," said the Belgian.
As well as the victories in the spring, Van Avermaet also finished runner-up at the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche, while later in the season he finished second at the GP de Québec, fourth overall at the BinckBank Tour, and recorded top 10's at the Clásica San Sebastián, Bretagne Classic and GP de Montréal.
He ended the year on 3582 points, with Froome – who won the Tour de France and Vuelta a España – second on 3452, and Dumoulin – who won the Giro d'Italia and BinckBank Tour – third on 2545. World champion Peter Sagan was fourth with 2544.
"It means a lot," said Van Avermaet. "It covers the whole year from the start to the end and it covers all races, so there are many contenders, like Froome, Dumoulin and Sagan. It's really hard to win this classification, and I'm really proud to have done it this year.
"I was really happy that they put some extra classics into the WorldTour because otherwise it would be almost impossible for me to win."
Van der Breggen was also in attendance to collect her trophy as winner of the second edition of the Women's WorldTour. The inaugural edition in 2016 was won by her teammate Megan Guarnier.
Like her fellow Olympic champion Van Avermaet, the Dutchwoman's success was rooted in the spring as she completed a stunning 'Ardennes triple', winning the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the space of a week. She went on to pair it with stage race success, winning both the Amgen Women's Race and the Giro Rosa and finishing runner-up at the Boels Rental Ladies Tour.
"I'm really proud of the season I had. To be able to win the races I won was great, and I'm really thankful I can do that and enjoy this sport," said Van der Breggen.
The Dutchwoman ended the year on 1016 points, 27 ahead of compatriot Annemiek van Vleueten, winner of La Course and the Boels Rentals Ladies Tour. Katarzyna Niewiadoma, overall victor at the Women's Tour, claimed 856 points to finish third, as she had behind Van der Breggen in all three Ardennes Classics.
"Sitting on the table with those two talented girls is great, and I hope women's cycling will develop more and more with these girls and other girls. I'm proud I'm able to win beautiful races and to win this prize means a lot to me," said Van der Breggen. "A lot of girls are getting stronger and stronger. That's only a good thing, it shows women's cycling is developing really fast at the moment, and that's great to see."
Teams
The WorldTour rankings also include team classifications, and it was Van der Breggen's Boels Dolmans team who walked off with the women's trophy. The Dutch squad, thanks primarily to the success of the Olympic Champion, ended up on 3368 points, with Sunweb on 3050 and Orica-Scott on 2705.
"I think we have really good riders, and in the beginning of the season we were the best team in the UCI ranking and in the end we are the same," said team director Bram Sevens. "That's a big compliment to my riders."
On the men's side, it was Team Sky who topped the rankings thanks to Froome's Tour-Vuelta double. Quick-Step Floors may have won the most WorldTour races this season with 30 to Sky's 18, but Froome's haul for winning the general classifications of two Grand Tours helped them shade it by 12806 points to 12652.
"We've been banging on the door for long time. This year we really looked at the last part of the season, and succeeded," said Team Sky DS Brett Lancaster.
"We're all in this together, even guys leaving the team next year went all the way to tine end. We're over the moon. We'll take this back to our camp next week and present it on Thursday night at our end of year party."
Final 2017 WorldTour rankings
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 3582 | pts |
2 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | 3452 | |
3 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb | 2545 | |
4 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 2544 | |
5 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 2196 | |
6 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | 2171 | |
7 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 2105 | |
8 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | 2050 | |
9 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb | 2049 | |
10 | Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | 1987 | |
11 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 1893 | |
12 | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 1882 | |
13 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | 1811 | |
14 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin | 1806 | |
15 | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | 1686 | |
16 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 1569 | |
17 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 1524 | |
18 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 1465 | |
19 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 1464 | |
20 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac | 1360 | |
21 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1326 | |
22 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ | 1317 | |
23 | Ion Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | 1276 | |
24 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 1275 | |
25 | Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky | 1266 | |
26 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 1214 | |
27 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 1191 | |
28 | Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky | 1170 | |
29 | Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors | 1159 | |
30 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | 1128 | |
31 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | 1120 | |
32 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | 1117 | |
33 | Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott | 1067 | |
34 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb | 1049 | |
35 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky | 1031 | |
36 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | 990 | |
37 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb | 977 | |
38 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 929 | |
39 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac | 917 | |
40 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 910 | |
41 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 887 | |
42 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 881 | |
43 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal | 853 | |
44 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott | 830 | |
45 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 810 | |
46 | Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky | 797 | |
47 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 788 | |
48 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 776 | |
49 | Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott | 776 | |
50 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | 775 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Team Sky | 12806 | pts |
2 | Quick-Step Floors | 12652 | |
3 | BMC Racing Team | 10961 | |
4 | Team Sunweb | 8033 | |
5 | Trek-Segafredo | 7934 | |
6 | Movistar Team | 7399 | |
7 | Orica-Scott | 7190 | |
8 | Bora-Hansgrohe | 6516 | |
9 | AG2R La Mondiale | 6316 | |
10 | Cannondale-Drapac | 5748 | |
11 | Katusha-Alpecin | 5619 | |
12 | UAE Team Emirates | 5494 | |
13 | Lotto Soudal | 5466 | |
14 | Bahrain-Merida | 5277 | |
15 | Astana Pro Team | 5018 | |
16 | Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 4846 | |
17 | FDJ | 3616 | |
18 | Dimension Data | 2575 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 1016 | pts |
2 | Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Orica Scott Women | 989 | |
3 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) WM3 Pro Cycling | 856 | |
4 | Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb Women | 803 | |
5 | Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle High5 | 630 | |
6 | Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Wiggle High5 | 626 | |
7 | Elizabeth Deignan (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 623 | |
8 | Ellen Van Dijk (Ned) Team Sunweb Women | 614 | |
9 | Lotta Lepistö (Fin) Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team | 518 | |
10 | Chloe Hosking (Aus) Alé Cipollini | 457 | |
11 | Marianne Vos (Ned) WM3 Pro Cycling | 452 | |
12 | Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 429 | |
13 | Elena Cecchini (Ita) Canyon SRAM Racing | 427 | |
14 | Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 373 | |
15 | Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cylance Pro Cycling | 347 | |
16 | Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women's Team | 334 | |
17 | Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Canyon SRAM Racing | 321 | |
18 | Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 320 | |
19 | Shara Gillow (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 320 | |
20 | Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team | 303 | |
21 | Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon SRAM Racing | 301 | |
22 | Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team Sunweb Women | 271 | |
23 | Lucinda Brand (Ned) Team Sunweb Women | 269 | |
24 | Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle High5 | 265 | |
25 | Janneke Ensing (Ned) Alé Cipollini | 260 | |
26 | Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team | 251 | |
27 | Sarah Roy (Aus) Orica Scott Women | 235 | |
28 | Roxane Fournier (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 225 | |
29 | Eugenia Bujak (Pol) BTC City Ljubljana | 221 | |
30 | Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Alé Cipollini | 219 | |
31 | Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 214 | |
32 | Amanda Spratt (Aus) Orica Scott Women | 202 | |
33 | Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica Scott Women | 194 | |
34 | Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 192 | |
35 | Katrin Garfoot (Aus) Orica Scott Women | 181 | |
36 | Sheyla Gutierrez (Spa) Cylance Pro Cycling | 180 | |
37 | Alice Barnes (GBr) Drops Cycling Team | 168 | |
38 | Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) Canyon SRAM Racing | 161 | |
39 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Lensworld-Kuota | 159 | |
40 | Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | 144 | |
41 | Katharine Hall (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 143 | |
42 | Lisa Klein (Ger) Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team | 134 | |
43 | Ruth Winder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 124 | |
44 | Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 116 | |
45 | Christina Siggaard (Den) Team Veloconcept Women | 113 | |
46 | Linda Villumsen (NZl) Team Virtu Cycling | 111 | |
47 | Danielle King (GBr) Cylance Pro Cycling | 108 | |
48 | Claudia Lichtenberg (Ger) Wiggle High5 | 103 | |
49 | Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Cylance Pro Cycling | 102 | |
50 | Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam | 3273 | pts |
2 | Team Sunweb Women | 2153 | |
3 | Wiggle High5 | 1824 | |
4 | Orica Scott Women | 1821 | |
5 | Canyon SRAM Racing | 1505 | |
6 | WM3 Pro Cycling | 1414 | |
7 | Cervelo Bigla Pro Cycling Team | 1228 | |
8 | Alé Cipollini | 994 | |
9 | Cylance Pro Cycling | 763 | |
10 | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 662 | |
11 | BTC City Ljubljana | 512 | |
12 | Astana Women's Team | 398 | |
13 | Lensworld-Kuota | 300 | |
14 | Team Virtu Cycling | 278 | |
15 | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 259 | |
16 | Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | 255 | |
17 | Drops Cycling Team | 245 | |
18 | Hitec Products | 243 | |
19 | BePink Cogeas | 223 | |
20 | Lotto Soudal Ladies | 114 | |
21 | Servetto Giusta | 92 | |
22 | Lares-Waowdeals | 91 | |
23 | Aromitalia Vaiano | 58 | |
24 | Team WNT Pro Cycling | 52 | |
25 | Australia | 40 | |
26 | Lointek | 39 | |
27 | Rally Cycling Women | 38 | |
28 | Hagens Berman / Supermint | 28 | |
29 | Sho-Air Twenty20 | 25 | |
30 | Valcar PBM | 24 | |
31 | China Chongming - Liv Pro Cycling | 24 | |
32 | Parkhotel Valkenburg-Destil Cycling Team | 22 | |
33 | Conceria Zabri-Fanini-Guerciotti | 14 | |
34 | Team Illuminate | 14 | |
35 | US National Team | 10 | |
36 | Norway | 4 |

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