Greg Van Avermaet crowned UCI WorldTour champion as 2017 season concludes
The Belgian was already assured of victory even before the finale WorldTour event, the Tour of Guangxi
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) is officially the winner of the UCI WorldTour for 2017, with the event series concluding on Tuesday with the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi in China.
The Belgian was assured of victory in the individual rankings over Chris Froome (Team Sky) in second, with the Brit ending his WorldTour season after the Vuelta a España.
32-year-old Van Avermaet took his maiden WorldTour crown with 3582 points over Froome’s 3452 in second and Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) with 2545 in third place.
Van Avermaet recorded his best ever season this year, dominating much of the Classics period through March and April, winning the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Ghent-Wevelgem, and Paris-Roubaix.
Even when not winning he proved remarkably consistent, taking second in races like Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders, despite crashing towards the end of the latter.
Chris Froome took second place in the WorldTour rankings after victories in the Tour de France and Vuelta a España (PhotoGomez)
While the WorldTour wins dried up as the year went on to take three top-10 finishes in Tour de France stages and fourth overall in the BinckBank Tour. Van Avermaet grabbed more points in the later one-day race of the year, taking top-10s in the Clásica San Sebastian, Bretagne Classic – Ouest France, GP Montréal and second in the GP Québec.
Meanwhile, Team Sky were crowned winners in the team ranking, in no small part thanks to victory in two Grand Tours with Chris Froome as well as Michal Kwiatkowski’s big one-day victories in Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Clásica San Sebastian as well as second at Amstel Gold Race.
Watch: Tour de France route 2018
Quick-Step Floors, who took a huge number of wins throughout the season, settle for second while Van Avermaet’s BMC Racing take third place.
The UCI Women’s WorldTour was decided in September after the final race the Madrid Challenge, with Anna van der Breggen victorious at the top of the standings.
Results
UCI WorldTour 2017 individual ranking
1. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team, 3582
2. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, 3452
3. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb, 2545
4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, 2544
5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain Merida, 2196
6. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, 2171
7. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, 2105
8. Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors, 2050
9. Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb, 2049
10. Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Swegafredo, 1987
Team ranking
1. Team Sky (GBr), 12689
2. Quick-Step Floors (Bel), 12233
3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 10539
4. Team Sunweb (Ger), 7991
5. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 7635
6. Movistar Team (Esp), 7349
7. Orica-Scott (Aus), 7110
8. Bora-Hansgrohe (Ger), 6480
9. Ag2r La Mondiale (Fra), 6316
10. Cannondale-Drapac (USA) 5715