The 2012 Tour de France could push an English-speaking nation to the top of the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index of countries.
The expert panel behind the monthly, rolling index of the world’s top 200 cyclists has just published their latest team and nation rankings, as well as updates to their ranking of the world’s top 200 riders.
With eight out of 10 national road race championships of countries recorded by the Index decided, Britain stands fourth, behind only Spain, Belgium, and Italy – cycling’s European heartlands.
And Britain’s Team Sky tops the latest team rankings, stealing a march on the second-placed team of defending Tour de France champion, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), and the Omega Pharma-QuickStep squad, led by newly-crowned Belgian road race champion, Tom Boonen, in third.
A nation’s score is calculated from the aggregate of nine riders from within the top 200. Spain, with Index leader, Joaquium Rodriguez, his Katusha teammate, Daniel Moreno, and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), has three riders in the top 20 alone.
Britain has two riders in the top five, however, and with 12,299 points, is just 4,185 points behind Spain with fifth-placed Bradley Wiggins, his Sky teammate, Mark Cavendish, who is ranked third, and Chris Froome ranked 45th, well-placed to score highly in the Tour de France, which starts on Saturday (30).
Wiggins recently dropped points on the Index by choosing not to defend his British road race title at Ampleforth last weekend. The chief beneficiary was Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), who climbed two places to fourth, despite his absence from the Australian championships.
A further beneficiary of Wiggins’ decision not to defend his national title was his Sky teammate, Ian Stannard, who led home another Sky rider, Alex Dowsett, to complete a one-two for the British WorldTour team that moved the duo to 83rd and 165th on the Index respectively – career high positions for both riders.
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) continued his incredible season by adding the Belgian road race championship to a roster that includes further victories at Gent Wevelgem, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix. His latest win moves him to within 64 points of Index leader, Rodriguez; a situation set to remain until the two go head-to-head at the Tour of Poland. Deposed Belgian champion, Philippe Gilbert, slips from fifth to seventh on the Index.
The Index’ top 100 has been gatecrashed by three new national road race champions. Francisco Ventoso’s triumph over Koldo Fernandez in the race for the Spanish title moved him 80 places to 67th, a place above Fabian Wegmann, who became a three-time German road race champion by narrowly defeating Linus Gerdemann, whose second place moved him to 116th on the Index.
Nacer Bouhanni was crowned the new champion of France, but having been overlooked by his FDJ-Big Mat team in their Tour de France selection, must console himself with a place in the top 200 on the Index, his 189th position representing a career highest.
In Italy, Franco Pelozzoti capped a successful comeback from a two-year suspension for an irregular value on his UCI biological passport by winning his nation’s road race championship with a solo effort. His victory placed him just inside the Index’ top 200 at 198th. The man he deposed as Italian champion, Giovanni Visconti, lost most of his Index points by failing to defend his title (he was one of many to abandon an especially tough race in which only 15 finished) and slips outside the top 200.
About the IG Pro Cycling Index
The IG Pro Cycling Index is a rolling, 12-month ranking system, produced in collaboration with Opta, experts in sports data. Its purpose is simple: to answer the question, “Who is the best cyclist in the world?” Results are sourced from 120 major international races; a competitive programme selected by a panel of experts and chosen for their prestige, and importance to those who follow and love the sport. The races are placed in four tiers within three different categories.
A number of features make the IG Pro Cycling Index unique. The classification of races into tiers is based on their history, importance, and the quality of the field, and not simply the class allocated by the UCI governing body. Consequently, victory in the Tour of Beijing will not achieve the same points tally as victory in Paris-Nice or the Dauphine. Victories attract greater rewards than placings. Multiple victories in significant stage races, multiple Classics victories, and victories on the most prestigious stages of the Grand Tours attract bonus points.
