Peter Kennaugh leaps into top 10 of UCI World Ranking

Peter Kennaugh has jumped up into eighth spot in the latest UCI World Ranking after winning the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia on Sunday.

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.

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German sprinter André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) makes his first appearance in the ranking after winning two days of the Challenge Mallorca.

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.

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.

>>> Peter Kennaugh wins Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

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.

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UCI World Ranking (as at February 1 2016)

1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 670 points

2. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing 485 points

3. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff 370 points

4. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 350 points

5. King Lok Cheung (HKg) 320 points

6. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal 250 points

7. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale 245 points

8. Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 205 points

9. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Lampre-Merida 200 points

10. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-QuickStep 185 points