IG Pro Cycling Index: National Championships Review

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Ian Stannard (Team Sky) takes the generous applause as he celebrates winning the British championship — Ian Stannard (Team Sky) takes the generou꧟s applause as he celebrates winning the British championship (🍒Image credit: Gerry McManu🐼s/www.splitsecondimages.co.uk)

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Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) back in the Belgian champ's jersey — Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Q🍎uickstep) back in the Belgian♍ champ's jersey (Image credit: Photopress.be)

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Nacer Bouhanni proudly shows off his gold medal (Image credit: AFP Photo)

National Championships Review

The most prominent mover was a rider who did not even race at the weekend. Australian 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Cadel Evans climbed two spots to 4th spot despite not adding any points to his total. His rise was due to 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Bradley Wiggins deciding not to defend his British title and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Philippe Gilbert failing in ꦯhis attempt to defend his Belgian title.

Three national road race winners from the weekend moved into the top 100. Francisco Ventoso edged out Koldo Fernandez in a sprint finish to win the Spanish title. He rose from 147th to 67th. One place below now is Fabian Wegmann, who won the German national road race for the third time in his career. Wegmann nar🥀rowly beat Linus Gerdemann to win the race. Gerdemann i♛s this week’s highest new entry in 116th place due to his 2nd place.

In Britain, Ian Stannard led home a Team Sky 1-2 with Alex Dowsett in second place. Stanna🍰rd is up to a career-high 83rd place, as is Dowsett, who is in 165th. The new French champion is Nacer Bouhanni. He🐈 enters the top 200 for the first time in 189th place. Sadly for Bouhanni he was not included in FDJ-BigMat’s Tour de France team so the French national champion’s jersey will be missing from the biggest race in France.

In Italy the controversial 🔯Franco Pellizotti returned from his two-year ban for irregular biological passport values with a bang by winning the road race with a solo attack. Pellizotti re-enters the top 200 at 198th place. Last year’s winner Giovanni Visconti failed to finish the tough race that saw only 15 finishers. Sadly for him a large chunk of his p🎉oints total is now gone and he drops outside the top 200.

SKY PROCYCLING: 20472
BMC RACING TEAM: 15986
OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP: 15610
RADIOSHACK-NISSAN: 14156
KATUSHA TEAM: 13824
LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE: 12858
GARMIN-SHARP: 12439
MOVISTAR TEAM: 12222
RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM: 10996
VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING: 10479
ORICA GREENEDGE: 9545
PRO TEAM ASTANA: 9340
LAMPRE-ISD: 8769
LOTTO-BELISOL: 8708
EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI: 8072
AG2R-LA MONDIALE: 7764
FDJ-BIG MAT: 7215
TEAM EUROPCAR: 6925
TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO: 6602
TEAM SAXO-BANK-TINKOFF BANK: 6082
SAUR-SOJASUN: 5747
COFIDIS-LE CREDIT EN LIGNE: 5009
FARNESE VINI-SELLE ITALIA: 4134
COLNAGO-CSF INOX: 3415
TEAM NETAPP: 3221

Team Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank are currently bottom of the UCI WorldTour rankings and are in danger of losing their place in the WorldTour. Their position in the Pro Cycling Index rankings also spells trouble. They are currently below two UCI ProContinental teams in the rankings - Team Europcar and Team Argos-Shimano. Both these teams are at a disadvantage to Saxo Bank as they race in less 𒁃top end races. The fact that they are both above them at this point in the season shows how Saxo Bank are under pressure to put in some points winning performances in before the end of the season.

Leading the way at the top are Spain, who, as well as having the Index leader, have two other riders in the top 20 - Samu𝔉el Sanch♏ez and Daniel Moreno. Belgium and Italy complete the top three as you would expect from those traditionally dominant cycling nations. It is Great Britain in fourth, Australia in fifth and USA in ninth that highlight the increasing numbers and quality of English speaking riders in the professional peloton.

As well as these nations having their own teams (Team Sky, Orica-GreenEdge and Garmin-Sharp etc), on the WorldTour they also have plenty of riders competing at the top level outside of these teams. Cadel Evans at BMC, Levi Leipheimer at Omega Pharma-Quickstep and David Millar at Garmin being the most high profile. How long will it be be♔fore we see an English speaking nation top the rankings? The Tour de France could s🌳ee this happen.

The IG Pro Cycling Index is a 12 month rolling ranking system designed to answer the question “Who is the best cyclist in the world?” We teamed up with sports data experts Opta to create a comprehensive cycling ranking system that was based on an entirely new formula. We source results from the 120 top international road races throughout the season. Races are ranked by our expert panel, based on their prestige and their importance to cycling fans and put into four tiers in three different categories.

The IG Pro Cycling Index has a number of features that make it unique: Races are tiered depending on history, importance and calibre of field rather than UCI Class. So winning the Tour of Beijing will not give you the same points as winning Paris-Nice or the Dauphiné. Wins carry much greater weight and are rewarded more than placings. Bonus points are awarded for multiple victories in the top races, winning the most prestigious stages at the Grand Tours or winning multiple classics.