Contador moves to top of world rankings
Tour alters UCI standings
Alberto Contador (Astana) has gone to the head of the UCI World Rankings for the first time this season as a result of winning the Tour de France. His Astana squad have maintained their position at the top of the team standings, while Contadꦐor’s points haul in July also helped Spain to pad out its enormous advantage over Italy in the national classification.
Contador moved up three places in the standings in July thanks to his performances in France, which brought his tally up𝔍 to 482 points. He leads fellow countryman Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) by 84 points. Previous leader Cadel Evans (BMC) slips to third after his Tour challenge was tempered by a fractured elbow sustained the verಌy day he took hold of the yellow jersey.
Given his relatively low-key season up until the Tour, it is not surprising that Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) was among the biggest risers in July. His second-place finish and two stage wins in France saw him climb 51 places to 6th. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) rose twenty places to 8th on the back of his fine Tour,🐎 while Denis Menchov’s podium place saw him shoot up the classification to 13th.
On the other side of the coin, Ivan Basso’s disappointing Tour saw the Liquigas man slip from 8th to 14th, while Fränk Schleck’s c🌌rash in week one saw ul🌌timately saw him slide out of the top twenty.
In the team standings, Astana are on 884 points, almost 100 points clear of Saxo Bank (788) and Katusha are further back ▨on 709. Spain’s dominance of the national rankings was buttressed by🌊 Contador’s Tour win. The Spanish points total of 1528 dwarfs that of Italy (856) and Belgium (849). Andy Schleck’s Tour haul brings Luxembourg into the top ten.
Individual Standings
1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 482
2. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 398
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) 390
4. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 304
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) 283
6. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) 258
7. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) 250
8. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 233
9. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 225
10. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) 223
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Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professiona༒l cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of , published by Gill Books.