Gilbert still second in UCI rankings chase

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Philippe Gilbert's bid to become the world's number one rider by season's end was dealt a blow with his 57th placing at Sunday's GP Ouest France-Plouay, with Grega Bole (Lampre-ISD) prevailing in the 248.3km race.

In order to overtake Tour de France winner and rankings leader Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), the Belgian was chasing a finishing position of at least ninth in the Brittany event. The individual rankings of the top 27 riders remain unchanged with Evans (574 points), Gilbert (568) and Alberto Contador (471) making up the top three. Evans will not ride in another WorldTour race this season.

Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) was the big mover with his fourth placing in Plouay, the reigning world champion moving up 16 places to 28th. Australia's Simon Gerrans (Sky), who is bound for fledgling outfit GreenEdge in 2012, collected valuable points with his runner-up finish to Bole – collecting 50 points and moving from 70th position to 33rd.

Spain remains at the top of the country rankings with 1311 points, with Australia (1082) now ahead of Italy (1041) and Belgium (998). There was no changes to the teams ranking with Leopard-Trek still leading on 949, BMC on 874 and Omega Pharma-Lotto on 855.