Luke Rowe and Simon Yates enter WorldTour ranking
British riders Luke Rowe (Sky) and Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) have entered the 2015 UCI WorldTour ranking after both riders enjoyed top 10 success at the weekend.
Rowe placed a highly-creditable eighth place in Paris-Roubaix in France on Sunday, widely recognised as one of the toughest single-day races on the calendar. Rowe came home just behind the lead group containing race winner John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and enters the ranking in 52nd spot.
Yates finished the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday in fifth place overall behind winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who managed to overhaul Sergio Henao (Sky) in the final time trial stage. Yates is 31st in the WorldTour table.
Simon Yates during the Stage 6 Individual Time Trial of the 2015 Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished fifth overall
Richie Porte (Sky) maintains his grip on WorldTour lead with 303 points after winning Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya, and taking second in the Tour Down Under in January.
Tour of Flanders winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) is in second with 237 points, with Roubaix and Milan-San Remo winner Degenkolb moving up to third with 232 points.
Geraint Thomas (Sky) may have crashed out of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, but the Welshman only slips down the UCI WorldTour ranking by one place to fourth.
The fourth British rider in the ranking is Simon Yates’s brother Adam, in 58th place.
British-based outfit Team Sky just about maintains its top spot in the WorldTour team ranking, although Etixx-QuickStep is now just 39 points behind. Belgian team Etixx may have come away from the classics without a victory, but a string of podium places – not least Zdenek Stybar’s second in Roubaix – has seen them quietly amass points.
Richie Porte attacks on stage four of the 2015 Paris-Nice on his way to winning the race
Australia still leads the WorldTour nation ranking, with Spain in second and the Netherlands in third. Britain is currently seventh.
WorldTour points are awarded for one-day race, tour stage and stage race overall finishing positions for counting events. 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.
Alejandro Valverde (Spain – Movistar) topped the 2014 WorldTour ranking; top British rider was Chris Froome (Sky) in seventh.
The next WorldTour events are: the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands (Sunday, April 19) and La Flèche Wallonne in Belgium (Wednesday, April 22).
UCI WorldTour rankings (as at April 13 after Paris-Roubaix and Tour of the Basque Country)
Rider ranking
1. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky 303 points
2. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 237 points
3. John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin 232 points
4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky 184 points
5. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar 168 points
6. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-QuickStep 152 points
7. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC racing 148 points
8. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx-QuickStep 140 points
9. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r 136 points
10. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 136 points
…
31. Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 52 points
52. Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 20 points
58. Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 10 points
Team ranking
1. Sky 629 points
2. Etixx-QuickStep 590 points
3. Katusha 527 points
4. Movistar 423 points
5. BMC Racing 380 points
Nation ranking
1. Australia 588 points
2. Spain 457 points
3. Netherlands 435 points
…
7. Great Britain 266 points