UCI Points system

[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.

 

[Samamba]

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.

And then you even forget Van den Broek, Martinez and Eekhoff (all decent riders) and the fact that they'll finally be free of Jakobsen at the end of next year. They want to replace Bardet with another French star. Tried Gaudu, now they are in the running for Cosnefroy, technically worse riders than Bardet imo but Bardet wasnt a points canon. They also have a devo team with talents coming in every year. Sure the bottom half of their team sucks, but they miles better than Cofidis, and also than Q36.5, unless they do 3 more top transfer which I don't really see happening soon. PicNics budget is being underestimated cause they wasted too much on over the top riders the past few years.

And also people need to realize that with Arkea almost guaranteed to be folding even the team falling out of the top 3 will get a Tour WC, the only GT everyone wants anyways. Being a top Pro Team is where you want to be if youre not top 10 in the WT.

 

[danielzu]

Points this week so far:

UnoX: 121
Intermarche: 93
Astana: 53
Cofidis: 25
PicNic: 5

After today:

UnoX: 161
Astana: 139
Intermarche: 107
Cofidis: 25
PicNic: 5

 

[danielzu]

After today:

UnoX: 161
Astana: 139
Intermarche: 107
Cofidis: 25
PicNic: 5

After yesterday:

UnoX: 406
Astana: 227
Intermarche: 132
Cofidis: 41
PicNic: 10

 

[danielzu]

After yesterday:

UnoX: 406
Astana: 227
Intermarche: 132
Cofidis: 41
PicNic: 10

Full points this week:

UnoX: 687
Astana: 232
Intermarche: 180
Cofidis: 117
PicNic: 38

So far this month:

UnoX: 1103
Cofidis: 320
Astana: 312
Intermarche: 200
PicNic: 198

UnoX the big winner of the month so far. Will they try to come back in the mix?

 

[AupaPyama]

Just had a look at the program for next week.
Belgium (2.Pro with Picnic and UNO X)
Occitanie (2.1 with Cofidis)
Copenhagen sprint (WT.3 with Picnic, UNO X and Cofidis).

No Astana. It seems they are only doing Appenino and nationals (lots of points there) before the Tour. And then durign the Tour Qinghai (2.Pro) and Austria (2.1). So possibilities for the other teams as Astana takes a little bit of a break after a busy first half year.

 

[AmRacer]

Just had a look at the program for next week.
Belgium (2.Pro with Picnic and UNO X)
Occitanie (2.1 with Cofidis)
Copenhagen sprint (WT.3 with Picnic, UNO X and Cofidis).

No Astana. It seems they are only doing Appenino and nationals (lots of points there) before the Tour. And then durign the Tour Qinghai (2.Pro) and Austria (2.1). So possibilities for the other teams as Astana takes a little bit of a break after a busy first half year.

Tour de Suisse

 

[Netserk]

Rank	Team	Total	Difference	Season
16	Intermarché - Wanty	24199	+1329	3767
17	XDS Astana Team	23456	+743	9846
18	Team Picnic PostNL	22870	0	4121
19	Cofidis	22806	-64	4479
20	Uno-X Mobility	21334	-1536	5826

 

[SafeBet]

Just had a look at the program for next week.
Belgium (2.Pro with Picnic and UNO X)
Occitanie (2.1 with Cofidis)
Copenhagen sprint (WT.3 with Picnic, UNO X and Cofidis).

No Astana. It seems they are only doing Appenino and nationals (lots of points there) before the Tour. And then durign the Tour Qinghai (2.Pro) and Austria (2.1). So possibilities for the other teams as Astana takes a little bit of a break after a busy first half year.

They took a similar break around mid April and then unleashed hell in Turkey, Romandie, Ardenne Classic, Giro...

I believe the only concern for Astana is how happy Bettiol will be not riding the Tour and how many points he can score in minor races. But at this point they would probably finish 16th or 17th even with no further racing days for Bettiol.

 

[search]

Astana also has the devo team in Sibiu, so they could send someone like Charmig or Higuita there, if they feel the need to.

 

[AupaPyama]

Astana also has the devo team in Sibiu, so they could send someone like Charmig or Higuita there, if they feel the need to.

Ah, I missed that one. At the moment it doenst seem necessary but with Syritsa scoring points in Belgium you still wonder: where is Su?

 

[aruipksni]

the gaps this week are still narrowing a lot because of UNO-X great comeback.
COFIDIS and PICNIC got even closer.
relegation battle between the two, might be decided by the fines each team will get...

 

[greyclouds]

I don’t know if Uno-X can do it (and if they want it), but the margins between them and 18th might be very tight at the end of the season. If they have a good Tour and Cort resumes his second half of the season good form it could get very tight.

They also have the upcoming Norwegian nationals which they dominate - last year they scored close to 400 UCI points between RR and ITT.

 

[yaco]

Ah, I missed that one. At the moment it doenst seem necessary but with Syritsa scoring points in Belgium you still wonder: where is Su?

Syritsa's points do not count.

 

[Potomac]

Still positive progress against 18th place, but slowing.

 

[Potomac]

the gaps this week are still narrowing a lot because of UNO-X great comeback.
COFIDIS and PICNIC got even closer.
relegation battle between the two, might be decided by the fines each team will get...

Thanks for efforts of these graphs. I think they are improved without the two "gap" series you had earlier.
Can you make the lines slightly thicker? That makes it easier to map the data series to the legend.