Australian Richie Porte has safely retained his overall lead in the UCI 2017 WorldTour after the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday.

Porte added to his tally of points after finishing 21st – and in the lead group – behind Great Ocean Road Race winner Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) of Germany.

Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) sits in second place in the WorldTour ranking, with Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) moving up from fourth to third after placing seventh on Sunday.

>>> Nikias Arndt wins Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, as Luke Rowe battles for fifth

British rider Luke Rowe enters the WorldTour ranking in 14th place after coming home in fifth – the Welshman is Britain’s highest-placed rider after two events.

Nikias Arndt wins the 2017 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race Classic. Photo: Graham Watson

Arndt’s win on Sunday means that he enters the WorldTour ranking in fifth spot.

Simon Gerrans’ second place in the Great Ocean Road Race was enough to move his Orica-Scott team up to first place in the WorldTour team ranking, usurping Porte’s BMC Racing squad. Bora-Hansgrohe are third, with Team Sky moving up one place from 10th to ninth.

With the cancellation of the Tour of Qatar (due to have been held over February 6-10), the next event in the 2017 WorldTour calendar is the Abu Dhabi Tour (February 23-26). This four-day event is a new introduction to the WorldTour for 2017, joining nine other new events to bring the total to 37 races.

>>> UCI WorldTour: Latest news, reports and info

WorldTour points are awarded to riders who finish highly in races in the UCI’s top-flight calendar.

More points are awarded for the more prestigious and/or demanding races. So, for example, an overall win in the Tour de France would net a rider 1000 points, but an overall win in the Abu Dhabi Tour would only net a rider 300 points.

Men’s UCI WorldTour Ranking 2017 (on January 29)

1. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing with 672 points
2. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott 422 pts
3. Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 395 pts
4. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 385 pts
5. Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 300 pts
6. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott 260 pts
7. Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin 260 pts
8. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 250 pts
9. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Abu Dhabi 225 pts
10. Rafael Valls (Esp) Lotto-Soudal 150 pts
Other
14. Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 120 pts

Team ranking

1. Orica-Scott 951 points
2. BMC Racing with 867 pts
3. Bora-Hansgrohe 482 pts