With the Giro wrapped it's a decent time to look at the fight for the top 10 in the UCI rankings, giving a full team in Denmark.
As per Wikipedia, the rankings prior to the Giro were -
Rank Nation Points Top five riders
1 Belgium - 750 Gilbert (356), Boonen (140), Nuyens (100), Vansummeren (100), Leukemans (54)
2 Australia - 662 Evans (232), Goss (203), Meyer (106), Matthews (70), Gerrans (51)
3 Spain - 596 Sánchez (163), Rodríguez (127), Intxausti (110), Contador (106), Tondó (90)
4 Italy - 587 Scarponi (202), Pinotti (102), Ballan (100), Basso (92), Nibali (91)
5 Germany - 484 Klöden (202), Martin (197), Greipel (78), Martens (6), Grabsch/Sieberg (1 each, only 1 point counts for nation ranking)
6 Netherlands - 368 Gesink (156), Tjallingii (70), Ten Dam (52), Langeveld (50), Weening (40)
7 Switzerland - 296 Cancellara (236), Rast (60)
8 United States - 276 Horner (143), Farrar (60), Hincapie (40), Leipheimer (22), Talansky (11)
9 France - 178 Chavanel (80), Péraud (41), Mondory (30), Kadri (20), Di Gregorio (7)
10 Great Britain - 174 Swift (89), Wiggins (75), Thomas (5), Millar (5)
11 Luxembourg - 166 F.Schleck (94), A.Schleck (92)
12 Kazakhstan - 146 Vinokorouv (146)
13 Denmark - 132 Bak (50), Fuglsang (41), C.A Sørensen (41)
14 Colombia - 107 Urán (107)
15 Ireland - 72 Martin (72)
Of these, I would suggest Belgium, Australia, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands & the USA are home and hosed.
The final 3 places look like being fought out between the Suisse, the French, the Brits & the Schleck family.
Given the races still to come, I don't believe Vino can single handedly get the Kazakhs up. The other 3 listed nations don't seem strong enough, and the Russians seem to have left it too late, with Menchov disappointing, and not riding the tour.
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So, updating the 4 relevant nations for Giro points we get -
UK -174 + 64 = 238
Suisse - 296 +10 = 306
Lux - 166 + 0 = 166
French - 178 + 115 = 293 (n.b. the french scored a number of redundant points as only the top 5 from each nation count)
Remaining races are -
Dauphine
TD Suisse
TDF
Classica San Sebastian
TD Poland
Eneco Tour
Vattenfall (I am presuming this is the cut off, as per last year).
So, who do we expect to miss out, and do you expect any surprises coming up on the rails?
As per Wikipedia, the rankings prior to the Giro were -
Rank Nation Points Top five riders
1 Belgium - 750 Gilbert (356), Boonen (140), Nuyens (100), Vansummeren (100), Leukemans (54)
2 Australia - 662 Evans (232), Goss (203), Meyer (106), Matthews (70), Gerrans (51)
3 Spain - 596 Sánchez (163), Rodríguez (127), Intxausti (110), Contador (106), Tondó (90)
4 Italy - 587 Scarponi (202), Pinotti (102), Ballan (100), Basso (92), Nibali (91)
5 Germany - 484 Klöden (202), Martin (197), Greipel (78), Martens (6), Grabsch/Sieberg (1 each, only 1 point counts for nation ranking)
6 Netherlands - 368 Gesink (156), Tjallingii (70), Ten Dam (52), Langeveld (50), Weening (40)
7 Switzerland - 296 Cancellara (236), Rast (60)
8 United States - 276 Horner (143), Farrar (60), Hincapie (40), Leipheimer (22), Talansky (11)
9 France - 178 Chavanel (80), Péraud (41), Mondory (30), Kadri (20), Di Gregorio (7)
10 Great Britain - 174 Swift (89), Wiggins (75), Thomas (5), Millar (5)
11 Luxembourg - 166 F.Schleck (94), A.Schleck (92)
12 Kazakhstan - 146 Vinokorouv (146)
13 Denmark - 132 Bak (50), Fuglsang (41), C.A Sørensen (41)
14 Colombia - 107 Urán (107)
15 Ireland - 72 Martin (72)
Of these, I would suggest Belgium, Australia, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands & the USA are home and hosed.
The final 3 places look like being fought out between the Suisse, the French, the Brits & the Schleck family.
Given the races still to come, I don't believe Vino can single handedly get the Kazakhs up. The other 3 listed nations don't seem strong enough, and the Russians seem to have left it too late, with Menchov disappointing, and not riding the tour.
---------------
So, updating the 4 relevant nations for Giro points we get -
UK -174 + 64 = 238
Suisse - 296 +10 = 306
Lux - 166 + 0 = 166
French - 178 + 115 = 293 (n.b. the french scored a number of redundant points as only the top 5 from each nation count)
Remaining races are -
Dauphine
TD Suisse
TDF
Classica San Sebastian
TD Poland
Eneco Tour
Vattenfall (I am presuming this is the cut off, as per last year).
So, who do we expect to miss out, and do you expect any surprises coming up on the rails?