UCI Points system

[Links2003]

The simple rule change should be to only have the points from your best placed rider count in any day of racing for teams. GC at stage races and Grand tours may be the exception. That way, teams will race for the best result possible rather than stack 3 guys in top 10. Such an easy win for the sport. UCI obviously asleep at the wheel.

I understand your approach. But I think you're forgetting an important point: if only the best rider counts, then it becomes increasingly important to have a few star riders. If you have a Pogi, you score tons of points in every race. If you don't have that, it becomes much more difficult. So I'm not a fan of your suggestion, because cycling is a team sport.
But I completely understand that you want the teams to race for victories and not for places.

 

[Breh]

Invited to all WT races, not obliged to participate in any.
Super weird tbh.

 

[Netserk]

Invited to all WT races, not obliged to participate in any.
Super weird tbh.

Makes it much easier to plan a season and score enough points to top-3 among Pro Teams. So Uno-X and the two Swiss teams could lock the top-3 and de facto be WT teams for the upcoming 3 years.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The UCI approves the 2026 calendars for the UCI Women’s WorldTour and UCI WorldTour, and takes measures to support the development of cycling

www.uci.org

So the top-3 Pro teams (based on the previous years scoring) will now get invited to everything.

As expected. If there's going to be an extra team at GTs, the UCI are damned if they're going to let the race organisers be the ones to get to choose. They've been trying to lock the top level and kill of wildcards for years.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Makes it much easier to plan a season and score enough points to top-3 among Pro Teams. So Uno-X and the two Swiss teams could lock the top-3 and de facto be WT teams for the upcoming 3 years.

You don't think whichever team other than Arkéa are going down will be able to compete with those three?

 

[Netserk]

You don't think whichever team other than Arkéa are going down will be able to compete with those three?

If Cofidis gets new management, they could. (B)DSM would need to find Jesus.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

If Cofidis gets new management, they could. (B)DSM would need to find Jesus.

Team No Longer DSM still have a way better lineup than Q36, though.

 

[Netserk]

Yes, when Poole and Onley are uninjured, they should be able to carry the team. But in case they end outside the top-3 this year, it will be harder for them to score points next year and I doubt transfers will help.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Yes, when Poole and Onley are uninjured, they should be able to carry the team. But in case they end outside the top-3 this year, it will be harder for them to score points next year and I doubt transfers will help.

Bardet retiring does free up a big chunk of salary budget, and if (big if) they combine this with finally jettisoning all their nowhere near WT standard riders whose contracts are up (Combaud, Naberman, Leijnse, Eddy) they really ought to have a better lineup going into next season.

And in all honesty, Poole and Onley plus a very solid sprinter department of Lund Andresen, Bittner and Van Uden should be enough to hold off Cofidis.

 

[SafeBet]

As expected. You would want to be a Pro Team if you're not good enough. Like I said before, a team like UNO X would be stupid to try to go for WT. They are in an absolute luxurious position as one of the best Pro Teams.

Also perfect for Cofidis if they relegate. They shouldn't stress anymore.

It's funny cause ASO, RCS and Q36.5, the 3 main actors who pushed for that extra WC hate to see this. The whole point of the extra WC is lost doing this. RCS for example will have to either let Polti/Bardiani (could be saved if Polti doesnt make top 30) or q36.5 at home if no one forfeits their invite. Cofidis probably will. But they won't for the Vuelta.

At the end of the day it will mostly be fine for everyone as long as Arkea disappears. Everyone will get the Tour invite anyways.

I'm very worried about Intermarche though. I'm not sure they finish inside the top18 for 2023-2025 and I can envision them finishing behind Q36.5 this year.

 

[Pozzovivo]

I understand your approach. But I think you're forgetting an important point: if only the best rider counts, then it becomes increasingly important to have a few star riders. If you have a Pogi, you score tons of points in every race. If you don't have that, it becomes much more difficult. So I'm not a fan of your suggestion, because cycling is a team sport.
But I completely understand that you want the teams to race for victories and not for places.

Pogi and his team are going to rack up points no matter what. And honestly, that makes total sense. In what sport doesn't the best athlete come out on top in the standings?

I actually think this change could help level the playing field a bit. Right now, a lot of teams don’t have big-name stars and end up getting crushed by teams that have 1) superstar riders, 2) multiple of them, or 3) even three leaders all aiming for top 5-10s in most races. If UAE's results behind Pogi don’t count, suddenly there’s more room for other teams to compete with UAE across the season. Also, wouldn't it make a lot more sense if the biggest results in the biggest races determined who had the best season according to the uci ranking rather than who stacked the most riders consistently in the top 5-10 across a variety of lesser races? UAE stacking 4 guys in top 10 at every italian classics does not make them the best team imo. Winning mounuments and grand tours is what makes you the best team (which they incidentily also do of course).

Plus, I’d argue it could make the sport more team-oriented. Take Liège–Bastogne–Liège, for example: Lidl-Trek had three riders finish 2nd, 5th, and 6th. That’s impressive, but imagine if they’d worked together to try to win the race instead of each going for personal results. The current points system encourages riders and teams to aim for top placings for several riders rather than actually trying to win.

The only ones who truly go all-in for the win in one-day races are guys like Pogacar, MVDP, and Remco. For them, the podium don't matter. Everyone else? They're playing it safe for two guys to top 10's.