New ranking will encompass results from WorldTour and Continental calendars
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The peloton comes through the finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour logos for 2016(Image credit: UCI)
Alejandro Valverde collects the prize for leading the WorldTour rankings(Image credit: Bettini)
Top WorldTour team Movistar(Image credit: Bettini)
The UCI has announced the launch of a new “rolling” world ranking system that will take into account the results of the previous 52 weeks. The new UCI World Ranking will be published every Monday, beginning from January 11.
Unlike the current WorldTour ranking, which only takes WorldTour races into consideration and only allows points to be scored by riders from WorldTour teams, the new ranking is open to all riders and will encompass results from the entire calendar, including the Continental circuits, national and world championships, and Olympic Games.
In a statement announcing the news on Thursday, the UCI compared its new system to that of the ATP in tennis and highlighted that a similar ranking already exists in women’s cycling.
The UCI Continental rankings will continue to be calculated in tandem with the new UCI World Ranking but they, too, will switch to a rolling, 52-week system and will be published once a week. Another novelty is that riders from WorldTour teams will now be able to score points in the Continental rankings.
The UCI noted that the rolling nature of the new ranking system will “only come fully into effect one year after its introduction,” that is, in time for the planned implementation of reforms to the cycling calendar in 2017.
“The new UCI World Ranking was the subject of a thorough consultation process which took into account the interests and wishes of riders, teams, organisers and National Federations as well as media and fans,” read a statement from the UCI on Thursday. “In addition, it reflects the most recent discussions of the UCI Road Commission and Professional Cycling Council.”
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The points system
The UCI has also published the scoring system for the new World Ranking, with the Tour de France given pride of place. The winner of the Tour will earn 1,000 points, compared to the 850 points awarded to the winners of the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. A Tour stage win carries 120 points, compared to 100 at the Giro and Vuelta.
Victories in “tier 1” WorldTour races, including Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Monument Classics and the two Canadian WorldTour races are worth 500 points, with other WorldTour victories worth 400 points. Stage wins in tier 1 races carry 60 points, with 50 points on offer for stage wins at tier 2 events.
Victory in a HC race carries 200 points, a class 1 victory is worth 125 points and class 2 is worth 40 points. Olympic and World Championships road race victories are valued at 600 points, with 350 awarded to the time trial winners.
A full description of the rules and the scoring system is available here.
