Wiggins moves up IG Pro Cycling Index

After a storming performance in the Tour of Romandie, Sky’s Bradley Wiggins is the biggest winner in this week’s ranking, moving up to fourth place. In the process Wiggins has overtaken his Tour de France rival and last year’s Romandie winner, Cadel Evans (BMC). The Australian, who has failed to deliver the same form as in 2011, drops to fifth in the ranking.

The week’s most improved rider is Garmin-Barracuda’s Andrew Talansky. The 23-year-old finished second overall at the Tour of Romandie, his best ever results in a major stage race, and cracks into the top 200 for the first time in his career, ranking at 131st. His impressive form will carry him into the Tour of California where the American will be looking for another strong showing in the individual time trial and overall classification. A good result there and Talansky could be in with a chance of securing a Tour de France spot in July.

Alexsandr Dyachenko was another big mover, finishing second over at the Tour of Turkey, a newly added race in the IG Index for 2012. Although racing the Tour of Turkey, Alexandre Vinokourov dropped 85 places to 175th. This was due to not defending his 3rd place at Romandie. Vinokourov has raced just four races in the last 12 months which is just 29 days of racing.

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Philippe Gilbert (BMC) remains at the head of the rankings, with Tom Boonen (Omega-Pharma QuickStep) and Joaquim Rodriguez in second and third respectively.

Stay tuned later in the week for our preview points story for the Giro d’Italia, where Mark Cavendish and Michele Scarponi will be looking to defending their points tallies.

About the IG Markets Index

The IG Pro Cycling Index is a 12 month rolling ranking system designed answer the question “Who is the best cyclist in the world?” We teamed up with sports data experts Opta to create a comprehensive cycling ranking system that was based on an entirely new formula. We source results from the 120 top international road races throughout the season. Races are ranked by our expert panel, based on their prestige and their importance to cycling fans and put into four tiers in three different categories.