Geraint Thomas and Great Britain move up in the WorldTour

Welshman Geraint Thomas (Sky) may have narrowly missed out on victory in the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, but his second place overall has given him enough points to move up to sixth place in the latest UCI WorldTour ranking.

Thomas battled it out with Simon Spilak (Katusha) on the final time trial stage in the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, missing the overall victory by just five seconds.

Though the Sky rider's disappointment on missing out on the win was obvious as he stood on the podium next to Spilak, Thomas's result shows he is back on form and ready to support team leader Chris Froome at the Tour de France.

Thomas had already enjoyed a successful spring, placing fifth at Paris-Nice then winning E3 Harelbeke and coming third in Ghent-Wevelgem. Outside of the UCI WorldTour, Thomas won the Volta ao Algarve.

Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) retains his overall lead in the 2015 WorldTour with 350 points, ahead of fellow Spaniard and Giro d'Italia winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) with 307 points and Richie Porte (Sky) in third with 304 points. Tour de Suisse winner Spilak moves up from 16th to fifth place.

Despite Thomas's result at the weekend, Team Sky slips to second in the team ranking as Spilak's Katusha squad moves up to first. Etixx-QuickStep sit in third place.

Great Britain is now up to third in the Nation WorldTour ranking behind Spain and Australia. Aside from Thomas and Critérium du Dauphiné winner Froome, the other British riders in the ranking are: Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Luke Rowe (Sky), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) and Peter Kennaugh (Sky).

WorldTour points are awarded for one-day race, tour stage and stage race overall finishing positions for counting events. 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.

Valverde topped the 2014 WorldTour ranking; top British rider was Froome in seventh.

The next counting event in the 2015 WorldTour is the Tour de France, from July 4-26, which will serve to shakeup the WorldTour rankings once again.

Video: Tour de France 2015 contenders

UCI WorldTour rankings (as at June 21 after the Tour de Suisse)

Rider ranking

1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 350 points

2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 307 points

3. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky 304 points

4. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 274 points

5. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha 269 points

6. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 267 points

7. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 252 points

8. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 245 points

9. John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin 233 points

10. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana 212 points

…

16. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky 184 points

24. Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 148 points

83. Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 20 points

93. Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 10 points

121. Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 6 points

Team ranking

1. Katusha 980 points

2. Sky 955 points

3. Etixx-QuickStep 861 points

4. Movistar 784 points

5. Tinkoff-Saxo 575 points

Nation ranking

1. Spain 1138 points

2. Australia 666 points

3. Great Britain 629 points

4. Italy 607 points

5. Colombia 599 points