Visconti seals UCI Europe Tour title

Italian Giovanni Visconti has claimed the International Cycling Union's (UCI) 2009 Europe Tour. The ISD-Neri rider sealed the overall title with a series of podium results in the final races of the UCI's Europe Tour calendar to finish clear of Kenny van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) and Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures – Sojasun).

Van Hummel had led the Europe Tour since May, but Visconti's second place finishes at the Coppa Sabatini and GP Beghelli provided him with enough points to overtake both the Dutchman and Casper in the final two weeks of the series calendar. He finished the season with 638 points, 37 points clear of Van Hummel (601 points) and 63 points in front of Casper (575 points).

Sunday's Chrono des Nations marked the final race of the UCI Europe calendar. Astana's Alexandre Vinokourov won the event, however, with Visconti, Van Hummel and Casper absent,  the individual time trial had little effect on the final overall rankings.

Agritubel closed their final season as a professional team with victory in the team rankings. The French squad finished ahead of Dutch team Vacansoleil and the now disbanded Portuguese team Liberty Seguros, who finished third.

Italy, France and Spain were the top-three nations in the competition for pro-continental teams.

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