Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) have both moved up the Union Cycliste Internationale's latest World Ranking, published this afteroon (Monday, August 2), thanks to their strong performances in Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian.
Hesjedal leaps up from 16th to 11th spot after coming sixth in Saturday's ProTour-level race in Spain. Vinokourov placed second in San Sebastian behind Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne), and he moves up from 10th to sixth in the table.
Vinokourov is now two places higher in the ranking than 2010 Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Tour de Suisse stage and Tour de France double stage winner Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank). Vinokourov's points come largely from his win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, a Tour stage win and second at San Sebastian.
Sanchez moves up from fifth to fourth. Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Astana) still occupies the top spot, with Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) in second place. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) is third.
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) is the highest ranked Briton in the table, in 29th, thanks to his five Tour stage wins. Roger Hammond (Cervelo) is next best-place Brit in 42nd place.
With four riders in the top ten individual ranking, it's no surprise that Spain tops the ranking-by-nation with Great Britain is in 14th place. Astana is the top team.
The UCI's World 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 World Calendar.
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. Stage wins in tours carry far less points than winning one-day races.
UCI World Ranking (August 2, 2010)
1. (1.) Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 482 points
2. (2.) Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 428
3. (3.) Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 390
4. (5.) Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 363
5. (4.) Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 304
6. (10.) Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 283
7. (6.) Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank 258
8. (7.) Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank 250
9. (8.) Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 239
10. (9.) Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 239
11. (16.) Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions 217
29. (29.) Mark Cavendish (GB) HTC-Columbia 122
Previous position given in brackets
Related links
Tour stars climb UCI World Ranking (July 26)
Evans tops latest UCI World Ranking (May 31)
2010 UCI World Calendar
