UCI Points race 2026-28

[Leadbelly]

......and so another 3 year cycle begins. Some teams have stated that they're already thinking about points and who can blame them. Nobody wants to be the next Vasseur/Cofidis.

Who's going to be involved though? This was the table at the end of the last cycle.

12	Lotto Intermarché	WT	33239
13	NSN Cycling Team	WT	31438
14	Movistar Team	WT	31081
15	XDS Astana Team	WT	30341
16	Team Jayco AlUla	WT	30147
17	Team Picnic PostNL	WT	27484
18	Uno-X Mobility	WT	26324
19	Cofidis	PRT	25926
20	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	PRT	18539
21	TotalEnergies	PRT	17675
22	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	PRT	15175

Obviously the positions of Tudor and Pinarello aren't really indicative of their current strengths as their first seasons especially weren't very good. I fully expect them to be challenging this time round.

It seems unlikely to me that Total will be in the mix. Their 2025 was really good. Even so, that only brought in just over 7000 points which is nowhere near enough.

Can Cofidis turn it around? They can pick and choose their races now of course which other teams have shown can be a real boon, but are their new signings really going to make a big difference. I have my doubts.

As for the current WT teams?

Movistar have strengthened well. I like their transfer business.

Will XDS be able to continue like last year? I don't think they're going to be racing the same way and be all about points. However I doubt they'll be involved.

Uno-X won't be able to choose their calendar any more which might hinder them, but they've made some decent signings to try and increase their strength in depth.

The other four (Lotto, NSN, Jayco and Picnic) are the ones I think that will be involved a bit more in the battle.

If I had to make a guess I would say Tudor and Pinarello will move up at the end of the cycle and Picnic + A.N. Other will be the unlucky ones.

 

[Statze2]

Nearly 9000 points per season were needed to gain the relevant points to stay in the world tour.
When we look at this years teams I would think that NSN, Jayco and Picnic will not collect many points and stay below these 9000 points.
If the leaders of Tudor (Hirschi, Küng, Storer) and Q36.5 (Pidcock, Benett, Wright, Christen) can have a good season they will be above the 9000 points. I can see no other Pro Team that comes close to the 9000 points.
But I think we will see another WT Team that is below these 9000 points, I´m not sure which one but I think it will be one of Groupama, Bahrain and EF.
And then in the fall of 2026 these teams (NSN, Jayco, Picnic etc) stop planning normal races and optimize to get as much points as possible.
Interesting to see which team will start first - in my opinion EF should start as early as possible. Its very likely that Healy can´t repeat a season like last year and I can´t see many other riders scoring more than 1000 UCI points per season.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

And then in the fall of 2026 these teams (NSN, Jayco, Picnic etc) stop planning normal races and optimize to get as much points as possible.

Jayco are supposedly going to focus on points this year already.

I also think Unibet could be a dark horse pick to wind up being in contention, a bit like Uno-X were three years ago. Their lineup is improving with leaps and bounds every single winter and it seems like they'll be doing the most farmy schedule around this season. I could see them cracking 7k this year, then reinforcing their lineup again next winter and averaging 10k in the remaining two seasons.

 

[ingsve]

Uno-X won't be able to choose their calendar any more which might hinder them, but they've made some decent signings to try and increase their strength in depth.

Uno-X are also in a much better starting point than last time around. Over the three years they went from 6569->8939->10816 points. So even from where they ended 2025, the have a decent gap of 1800 points they could drop and still be above the 9000 points benchmark per year. And even with that buffer, they have so far increased their points every season so they are perhaps just as likely to keep gaining points as they are to stagnate and lose points per season.

 

[Statze2]

Jayco are supposedly going to focus on points this year already.

I also think Unibet could be a dark horse pick to wind up being in contention, a bit like Uno-X were three years ago. Their lineup is improving with leaps and bounds every single winter and it seems like they'll be doing the most farmy schedule around this season. I could see them cracking 7k this year, then reinforcing their lineup again next winter and averaging 10k in the remaining two seasons.

Yes, this could be a possibility. If Groenewegen has a very good season this is possible. But I assume that this season will be at around 5000 points and then the gap will be to big to close in the next two years. And also 5000 points this season would be a huge step forward.

 

[Potomac]

I think a new three year cycle is grounds for making a new thread,

attention @Armchair Cyclist

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I think a new three year cycle is grounds for making a new thread,

attention @Armchair Cyclist

done

 

[Squire]

NSN is a definite candidate for relegation if they don't strengthen significantly. As it is, they're extremely reliant on Strong and Girmay which might not be enough against the competition (bar Picnic at the moment). Pretty much nobody to get results when the road goes upwards.

 

[Rockestar_33]

Jayco didn't get their usual Aussie summer boost so a lot will be relied on BOC getting top 5 minimum at the Giro and probably winning more than a few stages at the Tour.

It's a long 3 years though, anything could happen.

 

[Squire]

Jayco didn't get their usual Aussie summer boost so a lot will be relied on BOC getting top 5 minimum at the Giro and probably winning more than a few stages at the Tour.

It's a long 3 years though, anything could happen.

Huh? Tour Down Under has just started.

 

[Rockestar_33]

Huh? Tour Down Under has just started.

I meant Aussie Nats. Last cycle they got:

2023: 70 in the RR, 65 ITT
2024: 245 RR, 115 ITT
2025: 206 RR, 95 ITT

Compared to 80 and 43 this year, they need a really good season elsewhere with the loss of a few very good point scorers.

 

[yaco]

Jayco are supposedly going to focus on points this year already.

I also think Unibet could be a dark horse pick to wind up being in contention, a bit like Uno-X were three years ago. Their lineup is improving with leaps and bounds every single winter and it seems like they'll be doing the most farmy schedule around this season. I could see them cracking 7k this year, then reinforcing their lineup again next winter and averaging 10k in the remaining two seasons.

Jayco should do better under a new management structure. They are chasing points as evidenced by them doing the Spanish block of racing.

 

[Samamba]

Nearly 9000 points per season were needed to gain the relevant points to stay in the world tour.

Note that points will be significantly higher this cycle because .Pro races are worth more (and there are more of them too) and a lot of WT races (300->400, or 400-500) are worth more too.

In general it"s just way too early to really know, look at last cycle where AG2R was in 18th after 1 year but then got Decathlon on board and everything changed in no time, same with Astana.

 

[Rockestar_33]

Note that points will be significantly higher this cycle because .Pro races are worth more (and there are more of them too) and a lot of WT races (300->400, or 400-500) are worth more too.

Yeah, probably need 30-35k to be safe this cycle.

 

[Bkinn]

The next transfer market is also going to be important. According to PCS, several of the highest points earners for teams who sould be in the bottom have contracts expiring in 2026.

 

[YavorD]

I think Picnic are on the way down.
They lot 3 big points earners in Onley, Bardet and Andresen and they didn't bring anyone worth mentioning.
Unless Poole steps up massively, they aren't going to keep up.
Tudor probably depend on their "old" riders - Alaphilippe and Kung and whether Storer overperfoms again or not.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Petition to change the thread title to Hot points farming coming up all over the world.