The Manxman of Team Sky gathered up enough points after his memorable solo victory to move up from 178th to eighth in the ranking, which is topped by Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge).
Currently, the top three of the ranking is composed of Australian riders. After Gerrans, Richie Porte (BMC) is second and Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) third.
Greipel's fellow Challenge Mallorca winners Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) and Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) sit in 10th and 14th places. GP Marsellaise winner Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling) enters the table in 25th.
Challenge Mallorca sprint king André Greipel is in at number five
(Image credit: Watson)
Needless to say, Australia is currently the top-ranked nation by a huge margin ahead of Italy and Colombia. Great Britain is eighth, thanks largely to Kennaugh's points.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The UCI’s newly-introduced World Ranking was first published on January 11 and is published every Monday. It takes account of points allocated from races in the UCI International Road Calendar, which includes events in the WorldTour, Continental Circuits, World and National Championships, Olympic Games and Continental Games. It runs concurrently with the WorldTour ranking.
It's likely that next week's ranking – published on Monday, February 8 – will look very different, with the Dubai Tour, Herald Sun Tour and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana all taking place within the next seven days.
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.
