A plan to reform the UCI's road race points system is about to be presented to the governing body, according to reports in the Spanish publication Marca.
According to Marca, the proposal, if enacted, will see the imbalance between points awarded for one-day and stage races redressed, with an increase in points earned for success in multi-day events.
The reform plan will suggest that the system be amended to prevent stage races from being devalued, as it is currently more profitable points-wise to do well in a day race than it is to win some stage races. And with the introduction of promotion and relegation from the WorldTour, points have become a crucial factor when teams plan which riders go to which races.
According to Marca, this approach undermines stage races, even threatening their future, and has created a skewed sport which undermines its very essence, where stage races are the ultimate test of riders and their teams.
This is best illustrated by XDS-Astana, who were keenly tipped for relegation from the WorldTour at the start of the 2025 season. However, their canny approach to points scoring saw them finish well outside the danger zone.
The proposal, which is set to be considered by the UCI, is not about undermining Classics and other one-day races, but about increasing the rewards for success in multi-day events. It suggests that the points available for each day of a stage-race be the equivalent of 70% of the points awarded for a one-day race of the same level, whether that level be WorldTour or fourth tier.
It also suggests that the total number of points for a stage race be distributed throughout the results, with 50% of the total going towards the GC, 40% for stages and 10% to secondary classifications.
Currently, UCI regulations rank the Tour de France as the sport's best race for points scoring, the overall winner earning 1,300 points while a stage will net you 210. The Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España are second, winners getting 1,100 and 180, the Monuments come next, while a slew of other World Tour stage and one-day races are next down the scale.
Winning a Monument like the Tour of Flanders or Il Lombardia wins you 800 points. Winning the general classification at a historic week-long stage race such as Paris-Nice or Tour de Romandie is worth less, bagging the rider only 500 points, the same as victory at Strade Bianche or Amstel Gold Race.
At the lower levels, the disparity is even more stark. A stage of the Tour de France might be career-changing for the rider, but the 210 points they get pales into insignificance compared to the 250 earned for winning a one-day ProSeries event. Indeed, all races in this second tier earn the same number of points for the win, whether they be stage or one-day races. That means winning the Bredene Koksijde Classic is worth 40 points more than a Tour stage and 70 more than a Giro or Vuelta stage.
Marca suggest that organisers have been forced to change their approach in order to attract teams and riders all keen on amassing points, and the Tour of Oman is an interesting example of this.
Created in 2010, in its first 11 editions the Tour of Oman comprised six stages; however, in 2023 the race lost a stage, with organisers creating the one-day Muscat Classic, which is run the day before. The Muscat Challenge is typically run on the same route as the final day of the stage race used to be. Both are now ProSeries races; winning either earns the rider 250 points, while the winner of a stage of the five-day race will bag the rider only 25 points. By any measure, that seems perverse.
Whether the suggestions will bring change is to be seen. However, with the 2026 season already underway in some parts of the World, changes will not come soon, and any change may not even be fair if the next three-year WorldTour relegation cycle is already underway.
