Primož Roglič has jumped to the top of the UCI ranking after a remarkably consistent season.
The Slovenian soared up the leaderboard after taking his first Grand Tour victory at the Vuelta a España, usurping former leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).
The UCI has implemented plenty of changes to professional cycling in 2019, including the way riders are ranked throughout the season.
In previous seasons, top-tier riders were ranked via the UCI’s WorldTour Ranking, based on their finishing position in WorldTour races with more points on offer for prestigious races like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France.
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But under the new system, there are likely to be some surprises at the top of the table.
Women’s rankings have also been revamped to include riders from all UCI-ranked teams in one category, with Lorena Wiebes (Parkhotel Valkenburg) currently leading the way.
Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) tops the men's leaderboard after his Vuelta victory, with 4,180.28 points, with Alaphilippe second on 3569.95.
Valverde (Movistar), who led the classification at the start of the 2019 season, has now been bumped down into sixth on 2,717 points.
The Spaniard won one stage of the UAE Tour and finished seventh in Milan-San Remo, then finishing second in the Vuelta.
Unsurprisingly, Deceuninck – Quick-Step lead the team’s ranking, followed by Bora-Hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma.
In the women’s competition, Lorena Wiebes leads the way on 2,244.23 points, after her domination of the Boels Ladies Tour.
Marriane Vos (CCC-Liv) is currently second on 2,083 and while newly crowned world champion Annemiek van Vleuten is third on 1,951.
Instead of a season-long ranking, running from January 1 to December 31, the new system is a rolling category with a tally of points picked up in the last 52 weeks.
The UCI rules state: “The individual UCI World Ranking is a 52-week rolling ranking and shall be drawn up at least once a week.
“If necessary, the ranking for the preceding weeks shall be corrected. The new ranking comes into force on the day of publication and stands until the publication of the subsequent ranking.”
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This new system replaces the previous WorldTour ranking, where only riders from top-tier teams could score points in WorldTour level events.
But the new ranking means that riders from all three divisions – WorldTour, Pro Continental and Continental – will be included in the list.
The World Ranking has existed for a number of years but it will now completely replace WorldTour rankings, which have been scrapped.
Riders can earn points based on their position in WorldTour races as well as Hors, first and second class events.
Points handed out based on how prestigious a race is – the winner of the Tour de France takes home 1,000 points, while the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espanña winners score 850 points.
A Paris-Roubaix win will score a rider 500 points, as will all other Monuments and some of the highest level stage races.
UCI men’s World Ranking (as of October 2)
Individual
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, 4,180.28 pts
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, 3,569.95
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, 3,202.5
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team, 2,947.33
5. Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos, 2,811.75
6. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, 2,717
7. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates, 2,484.5
8. Pacal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, 2,432
9. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, 2,307.12
10. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, 2,232
Team
1. Deceuninck – Quick-Step (Bel), 14,825.31 pts
2. Bora-Hansgrohe (Ger), 14,248
3. Jumbo-Visma (Ned), 12,468.96
4. Astana (Kaz), 1,1932.5
5. UAE Team Emirates (UAE), 1,1741.67
UCI women’s World Ranking
Individual
1. Lorena Weibes (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg, 2,244.33 pts
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) CCC-Liv, 2,083
3. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott, 1,951
4. Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Team Virtu Cycling , 1,779
5. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels-Dolmans, 1,411
6. Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels-Dolmans, 1,403
7. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, 1,268.17
8. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, 1,225.67
9. Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels-Dolmans, 1,198.67
10. Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women's Team, 1,147
Teams
1. Boels-Dolmans (Ned), 5,647 pts
2. Sunweb (Ned), 4,592.33
3. Mitchelton-Scott (Aus), 4,454.03
4. Canyon-SRAM (Ger), 4,359.01
5. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 4,168.65
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