Michal Kwiatkowski's exceptional season continued on Saturday (July 29), when he won the Clásica de San Sebastián in Spain.
The Polish Team Sky rider's latest win has propelled him to second in the UCI WorldTour ranking behind leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing).
Kwiatkowski adds San Sebastián to his victories in Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche earlier this year, as well as podium spots at the Amstel Gold race (second) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (third).
>>> Michal Kwiatkowski wins Clásica San Sebastián 2017
However, Kwiatkowski still has some way to go to close the gap on Belgian Van Avermaet, who was the rider of the early season, grabbing wins in Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Van Avermaet has 2728 points to Kwiatkowski's 2171.
Sunday's Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic in Britain was the first edition of the race to be elevated to WorldTour status. Norwegian winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) moves up nine places to 16th in the latest WorldTour ranking.
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is now third in the WorldTour behind Van Avermaet and Kwiatkowski, with Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Sky) dropping from sixth to seventh.
Kwiatkowski, Van Avermaet and Kristoff rank among the favourites - along with current world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) - for the men's road race World Championship title, to be decided in Bergen, Norway, on September 24. Kwiatkowski won in 2014.
>>> Alexander Kristoff wins RideLondon-Surrey Classic
Team Sky now moves up to second place behind Quick-Step Floors in the WorldTour team ranking, with BMC in third.
The next WorldTour event to have its points added to the ranking is the Tour of Poland, which started on Saturday and concludes on Friday, August 4. After that, we have the Eneco Tour (August 7-13) and the final Grand Tour of the 2017 season, the Vuelta a España (August 19 to September 10).
>>> Full men's and women's 2017 WorldTour calendars and latest news
WorldTour points are awarded for one-day race, tour stage and stage race overall finishing positions for counting events. Points are also given for time spent in the race lead, and winning major classifications (ie King of the Mountains).
The amount of points awarded depends on the ranking of the event. For example, winning the Tour de France overall gives a rider over twice as many points as winning the Eneco Tour overall. Sagan topped the final ranking at the end of the 2016 season.
Watch: Changes to the 2017 WorldTour
Men’s UCI WorldTour ranking (on July 30)
1. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing 2728 points
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 2171 pts
3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar 2105 pts
4. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 2071 pts
5. Dan Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 2040 pts
6. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing 1882 pts
7. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 1824 pts
8. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1765 pts
9. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar 1711 pts
10. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1570 pts
Men’s team ranking
1. Quick-Step Floors 10,186 points
2. Team Sky 8675 pts
3. BMC Racing 8517 pts
4. Movistar 6258 pts
5. Orica-Scott 6117 pts
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, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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