UCI Points system

[Devil's Elbow]

The real battle as I see it for next year is between Uno-X and Tudor for the auto-wild card for WT one day races. I think Uno-X got the edge but Hirschi and Alaphilippe may make it close if they are on form all year.

If Uno-X lose that battle, they they are cooked. Probably no TDF invite from 2026 onwards and riders will leave.

This assumes that a) Arkéa survives into 2026 and b) neither them nor Chinastana find themselves in the battle with Uno-X and Tudor (or simply well below them).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

"Wildcards to all WT events"

That's not a f***ing wildcard.

Stop pretending and be honest with us, just go full mask off and tell us you want to play the "rich people only, no riff-raff allowed" card, UCI.

 

[Samamba]

"Wildcards to all WT events"

That's not a f***ing wildcard.

Stop pretending and be honest with us, just go full mask off and tell us you want to play the "rich people only, no riff-raff allowed" card, UCI.

We get it man, you don't like the system, you repeat it 50 times a year

 

[Pozzovivo]

Not just one-day races. Uno-X is likely to secure GT wildcards too for 2026.

In what way are they likely to get that? They need to beat who?

 

[Peyroteo94]

We get it man, you don't like the system, you repeat it 50 times a year

Your forgot two letters (Wo)

 

[Devil's Elbow]

In what way are they likely to get that? They need to beat who?

Assuming no changes to the provisional WT license winners, all but one of Arkéa (assuming they survive), Chinastana and the existing PCTs minus Lotto and Israel (of which only Tudor seems a major threat.

In other words, if next season were to be an exact repeat of this one, Uno-X and Arkéa would take first and second with Astana snagging the one-day race wildcards. The problem for all three teams is that Tudor weren't far off this year and should do much better next season.

 

[Potomac]

So after two complete years, 18,000 points is safe, so it isn't a too far fetched to predict that 27,000 points or so will be needed to stay up at the end of the 2025 season

#	Team	Class	Points
1	UAE Team Emirates	WT	68248
2	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	WT	50039
3	Soudal Quick-Step	WT	36862
4	Lidl - Trek	WT	33995
5	INEOS Grenadiers	WT	33353
6	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe	WT	30212
7	Alpecin - Deceuninck	WT	29509
8	Groupama - FDJ	WT	27182
9	Lotto Dstny	PRT	26625
10	Bahrain - Victorious	WT	25213
11	Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team	WT	25135
12	EF Education - EasyPost	WT	23302
13	Movistar Team	WT	21858
14	Israel - Premier Tech	PRT	21666
15	Team Jayco AlUla	WT	21323
16	Intermarché - Wanty	WT	20290
17	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	WT	18721
18	Cofidis	WT	18233
19	Arkéa - B&B Hotels	WT	15859
20	Uno-X Mobility	PRT	15500
21	Astana Qazaqstan Team	WT	13563
22	TotalEnergies	PRT	10667
23	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	PRT	8527
24	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	PRT	6988
25	VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè	PRT	6530

 

[Potomac]

Using 27 000 as a goal, Astana would need to score 14 000 points in 2025.

I'm singling out Astana because there was speculation the new ownership might be very aggressive in the transfer season in hopes of staying up.

 

[Netserk]

Assuming no changes to the provisional WT license winners, all but one of Arkéa (assuming they survive), Chinastana and the existing PCTs minus Lotto and Israel (of which only Tudor seems a major threat.

In other words, if next season were to be an exact repeat of this one, Uno-X and Arkéa would take first and second with Astana snagging the one-day race wildcards. The problem for all three teams is that Tudor weren't far off this year and should do much better next season.

Yep.

This year's scores:

18	Uno-X Mobility	PRT	8938.7
19	Arkéa - B&B Hotels	WT	8735
21	Astana Qazaqstan Team	WT	6563.2
22	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	PRT	5753.3
23	TotalEnergies	PRT	4897

Uno-X, Astana and Tudor will likely all improve more than Arkéa and Total, so I think the top-2 spots are between the first three. Tudor and Astana have much better transfers for next year, but I still favour Uno-X as they can get their riders to perform (to be seen for Astana) and they know how to ride for points.

 

[Samamba]

Yep.

This year's scores:

18	Uno-X Mobility	PRT	8938.7
19	Arkéa - B&B Hotels	WT	8735
21	Astana Qazaqstan Team	WT	6563.2
22	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	PRT	5753.3
23	TotalEnergies	PRT	4897

Uno-X, Astana and Tudor will likely all improve more than Arkéa and Total, so I think the top-2 spots are between the first three. Tudor and Astana have much better transfers for next year, but I still favour Uno-X as they can get their riders to perform (to be seen for Astana) and they know how to ride for points.

UNO X having only 26 riders and no devo team will hinder them massively tho. They can't just spam races, they won't be able to ride as much as this year. I doubt they'll improve a lot.

 

[Samamba]

Did the math, based on this years results of Astana's riders they have the possibility to score over 11000 points, that would definitely give them a top 2 Pro Team spot. Of course there's riders that might underperform at Astana, given it is ... well Astana. But on the other hand they have some riders coming in that were working for others a lot past year or come out of a bad season so have the opportunity to do better than they did.

Obviously will never be enough to stay in the WT, they need all their top riders to at least equal their best season for that. For having a shot at WT they really needed to get a Groves (who denied their offer), Van Gils (same) or Ayuso.

 

[Leadbelly]

Going by this year's scoring, Euskaltel will have to do ~500 points better to have a chance at getting in the top-30 for next year. I'm not sure I see it happening unless they really target the low hanging fruit.

Conversely Polti in 29th (and others above them) have a cushion of over 1000 points back to the team in 31st place. That doesn't guarantee anything of course, but it should mean they'll be okay even if they have lost big riders. (Castrillo at Kern and Pellizzari at VF).

 

[aruipksni]

the all point system is not working very well. you have a 3 year league (why????) , without championship prize. all the point battle is between a few low tear teams squabbling for peanuts, while the rest of the teams collect the big prizes.

 

[Pozzovivo]

UNO X having only 26 riders and no devo team will hinder them massively tho. They can't just spam races, they won't be able to ride as much as this year. I doubt they'll improve a lot.

They make themselves very vulnerable to injuries for sure. If they stay healthy I think they can still race as much since many of the worst riders on Uno-X hardly races at all. Losing two of the three sons of the Uno-X CEO Kulset will not impact them at all for instance. I think with Kron coming in and THJ having a better season they can increase points by about 1500 reaching around 10.500 if all goes well.

 

[Potomac]

It took a while, but Astana did make a lot signings, enough to put them in 2nd place for "transfer value won" per PCS

Transfer value won or lost by UCI WorldTour teams

Riders that transfer from a team take their points with them to the new team. Which teams have enforced themselves with the most quality riders? Which teams have lost the most points?

www.procyclingstats.com

Will it be enough for them to jump three places?

 

[Anderis]

Pretty unlikely I would say.

They would need to score at least as much in 2025 as they scored in 2023 and 2024 combined to even be in contention (assuming Cofidis or Picnic won't have a good 2025).

Given that almost half of their PCS points surpluss is Ulissi, turning 36 this year and taken out of the best team in the peloton, I can't see him getting any better. And the next 'biggest' signing is Gate who has never done anything remarkable at 34 and scored all his 2024 points in insignificant races (will be difficult to repeat that with a WT calendar). And they lost Lutsenko who has been one of their traditional top scorers for almost a decade.

They would need to rejuvenate Higuita and hope someone like Kajamini or Van Bekkum turns out to be the next big thing, though you would think if the latter was anything special, he would be in Visma, not in Astana, for 2025.

EDIT: But to be fair, I just remembered that Bettiol is not counted in this beakdown, so with him in the equation it looks a bit better but still a long shot.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Pretty unlikely I would say.

They would need to score at least as much in 2025 as they scored in 2023 and 2024 combined to even be in contention (assuming Cofidis or Picnic won't have a good 2025).

Given that almost half of their PCS points surpluss is Ulissi, turning 36 this year and taken out of the best team in the peloton, I can't see him getting any better. And the next 'biggest' signing is Gate who has never done anything remarkable at 34 and scored all his 2024 points in insignificant races (will be difficult to repeat that with a WT calendar). And they lost Lutsenko who has been one of their traditional top scorers for almost a decade.

They would need to rejuvenate Higuita and hope someone like Kajamini or Van Bekkum turns out to be the next big thing, though you would think if the latter was anything special, he would be in Visma, not in Astana, for 2025.

EDIT: But to be fair, I just remembered that Bettiol is not counted in this beakdown, so with him in the equation it looks a bit better but still a long shot.

The team just have secure the guaranteed invites, which is probably better for them than being an actual WT team anyway. It will also depend on what happens at Arkéa.

Gate will probably ride some bigger races, but they're probably also gonna send him to the Chinese races he did well in last year and other smaller ones.

 

[Anderis]

Gate will probably ride some bigger races, but they're probably also gonna send him to the Chinese races he did well in last year and other smaller ones.

I'm not saying Gate won't be riding smaller races but some of the Chinese races he rode last year are too low category for a WT team. I would be surprised if he improved on his 2024 score. Most of his 2024 score was from from Tour of Hainan and Oceania Continental Championship- two (three) races that gave a disproportionately large number of points compared to how strong the field was. I mean he can try again but what are the odds he'll win Hainan for a 2nd consecutive year? And to score the equivalent number of points somewhere else he would need to show a higher level than anytime before during his career.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I'm not saying Gate won't be riding smaller races but some of the Chinese races he rode last year are too low category for a WT team. I would be surprised if he improved on his 2024 score. Most of his 2024 score was from from Tour of Hainan and Oceania Continental Championship- two (three) races that gave a disproportionately large number of points compared to how strong the field was. I mean he can try again but what are the odds he'll win Hainan for a 2nd consecutive year? And to score the equivalent number of points somewhere else he would need to show a higher level than anytime before during his career.

He can still ride .2 races with the development team and the NZ national team. I'm sure they're aware of his strengths and have purposely picked him up in order to farm some points in those smaller races. Of course it can't be ruled out that they're a bit thick.

 

[Anderis]

He can still ride .2 races with the development team

Sometimes I wonder if this exploit should be possible and if the points scored by WT riders while riding for the development teams shouldn't count to the WT team's point ranking.

 

[yaco]

Sometimes I wonder if this exploit should be possible and if the points scored by WT riders while riding for the development teams shouldn't count to the WT team's point ranking.

Of course it should not count. It's beyond me how the UCI let such a rort occur.

 

[Unchained]

"Wildcards to all WT events"

That's not a f***ing wildcard.

Stop pretending and be honest with us, just go full mask off and tell us you want to play the "rich people only, no riff-raff allowed" card, UCI.

I like reading the thread.. I also see how your opinion, which I share is unpopular. If you tell people that what they are watching is really not the whole story and that there is an ever present pay to play undercurrent, that's disappointing for sports sake, you want the merit of trying, winning, fighting for it to be the most significant metrics. I also find it funny that real life went almost without discussion, without real questions to many riders on Tudor..Marc Hirschi wasn't asked real life questions.. Wow you really surged at the end of the season, congratulations with all the victories almost on repeat!! At 26 in your peak years, why in the world would you go to a new, unknown team with no current credentials to compete in major races? Do you have a gambling problem in general? Or just with your cycling career?
Julian Alaphilippe..at 32 you have few years left..you showed some signs of returning to form, no WC level form or leadership of Quick Step form but some real improvements, especially after falling off your bike years in a row!! Why at 32 would you sign with Tudor and possibly be stuck doing grand fondos in Switzerland or France instead of biggest races and getting a shot to finish your career with additional grand tour opportunities? Do you know something everyone else doesn't?
The obvious answer is the fix is on or many riders are just foolish.. Q36.5 totally different story, that move was super silly and signs that someone doesn't play well with others..

 

[Pozzovivo]

And by finishing 3rd, 5th, and 8th at Gran Premio Castellón - Ruta de la Cerámica, XDS-Astana got 150 UCI points. Let the ridicolous points battle begin...

 

[Anderis]

150 ain't that much. That's as many as you would get for a 7th place in Grand Pri Cycliste de Quebec.

 

[Potomac]

150 ain't that much. That's as many as you would get for a 7th place in Grand Pri Cycliste de Quebec.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, Grasshopper.