Joaquim Rodriguez knocks Chris Froome off WorldTour top spot
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) has taken the lead in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTour ranking after his victory in Sunday's Tour of Lombardy, knocking British Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Sky) down to second.
Although his victories have been few, Rodriguez has placed consistently highly in several of the season's biggest races - not least third overall in the Tour de France and fourth overall in the Vuelta a Espana. As well as his Lombardy win, Rodriguez has ridden well in one-day classics including second in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and sixth in Fleche Wallonne.
Froome now sits 20 points behind Rodriguez in the WorldTour ranking, with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in third. Early season WorldTour leader Peter Sagan (Cannondale) slips down to fourth in the table with Vincenzo Nibali in fifth.
With one race remaining in the 2013 WorldTour - the Tour of Beijing (October 11-15) - Rodriguez cannot be tumbled from the top spot. Froome was due to ride in China but the back injury that meant he was a non-starter in Lombardy has also ruled him out of the Tour of Beijing. Rodriguez topped the 2012 WorldTour.
Team Sky continue to dominate the team ranking, sitting ahead of Movistar and Katusha. Spain is the top nation ahead of Italy and Colombia, with Great Britain in fourth.
The UCI's WorldTour Ranking is compiled using a points system, with points awarded for one-day race, tour stage and stage race overall finishing positions for events in the UCI's WorldTour.
The amount of points awarded depends on the ranking of the event. For example, winning the Tour de France overall gives a rider twice as many points as winning the Eneco Tour overall.
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UCI WorldTour ranking (as at October 6 after Tour of Lombardy)
Individual rider ranking
1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 607 points
2. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky 587
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 540
4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale 491
5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana 474
6. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) RadioShack-Leopard 384
7. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar 366
8. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 348
9. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky 327
10. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Saxo-Tinkoff 308
Other
28. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 161
41. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky 117
69. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky 66
87. Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky 44
133. Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar 16
178. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp 4
217. Andy Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 1
Nation ranking
1. Spain 1841
2. Italy 1082
3. Colombia 1011
4. Great Britain 975
5. Netherlands 786
Team ranking
1. Sky 1561
2. Movistar 1443
3. Katusha 1340
4. Astana 1045
5. Saxo-Tinkoff 1030
Related links
UCI WorldTour calendar 2013
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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