IG Pro Cycling Index

Joaquin Rodriguez added another impressive achievement to his stellar year on the weekend in Italy. The Spanish rider attacked of the final climb of the Tier 1 classic Il Lombardia and broke clear to solo to an impressive victory. In previous year success in one day races has been a common occurrence for Rodriguez but in 2012 he has managed to couple this with impressive results in Grand Tours. His second place at the Giro d’Italia and third place at the Vuelta a España have confirmed his as one of the most consistent grand tour riders this year.

Despite all this success Rodriguez has been unable to claim top spot in the IG Pro Cycling Index. His win at Il Lombardia made his points total 4697 which is still over 250 points behind Bradley Wiggins in top spot. In other rankings systems such as the UCI’s or CQ Ranking Rodriguez is top. The reason behind this difference is that the points structure and categorisation of races in the IG Pro Cycling Index. The IG Pro Cycling Index counts races outside the World Tour which the UCI’s does not. These races are then categories into different tiers but not based on UCI categories like CQ ranking does. For example the Tour Down Under and Tour of Poland are in a lower category than Paris-Nice where in CQ’s system they are in the same one.

As well as Il Lombardia there where two other one day races taking place in Italy last week; Milano- Torino (Tier 3) and Gran Piemonte (Tier 3). These three races brought big changes in the rankings. The most consistent performer across the three races was Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky). The Columbian won Gran Piemonte and then went onto finish third in Il Lombardia for the second time in his career. These results lifted him from 37^th to 21^st in the Pro Cycling Index and meant that Team Sky now has six riders in the top 25.

There were two new Spanish entries into the top 20 this week. Firstly Alberto Contador has finally made his return to the top 20 after his doping suspension. He had a successful week winning his first race since his return at Milano-Torino and then finishing 9^th at Il Lombardia. Two places higher up is Samuel Sanchez who came second behind Rodriguez at Lombardy. Spain now has the most riders in the top 20 with four in total.

Two riders who fell down the rankings this week are Daniel Moreno and Greg Van Avermaet.  Moreno won Gran Piemonte last year and finished 17^th Il Lombardia. After a long season he failed to replicate those performances and came 14^th in Milano – Torino and 49^th in Il Lombardia. He now slips down to 22^nd having been in the top 20 all season. Greg Van Avermaet has also been a constant presence in the top 20 of the IG Pro Cycling Index all year. This is no longer the chase as he has slipped to 36^th place after failing to replicate his second place at Gran Piemonte in 2011.

Further down the standings Diego Ulissi climbed 64 places to 79^th in the Index after his second place to Alberto Contador in Milano-Torino. This week’s highest new entry into the top 200 was Mauro Santambrgoio of BMC Racing. The Italian has a busy week coming 6^th in Gran Piemonte and 4^th in Il Lombardia. Gorka Verdugo has also made his debut in the top 200 in 160^th place after his third place in Gran Piemonte.

Stat of the week: Bradley Wiggins is the only rider in the top 12 who has raced under 10,000km this year.

A thrilling race in Holland saw the pre-race favourite Philippe Gilbert power to his best win of the season. Gilbert’s impressive attack on the final ascent of the Cauberg could not be matched by any of the other worlds elite. The 2011 IG Pro Cycling Index winner has had a tough year trying to replicate his superb form from 2011. He has spent the majority of the year sliding down the rankings. Before the Worlds Gilbert was 51^st overall but his result in Valkenburg has lifted him to 21^st overall.

One rung below Gilbert on the podium in Holland was Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky. Boasson Hagen has had a varied season. He failed to live up to expectations in the classics season with a 5^th in Gent-Wevelgem his best result. Since that disappointed the Norwegian went onto win his local race; the Tour of Norway. He then helped Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France and enjoyed a win in the GP Ouest-France – Plouay and a 5^th place in GP de Montreal. These results have seen him yo-yoing up and down the top 20 in the rankings. After his result at the worlds he is back up to 10^th.

Completing the podium was Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in third place. The controversial rider returned to the professional peloton this year at the Tour Down Under after a doping ban. He had a strong start to the season with second overall at the Tour Down Under, winning the Vuelta a Andalucía and finishing third overall at Paris-Nice. He rode the Tour de France picking up a stage win and then impressed many at the Vuelta a España where he focused on general classification and came second overall. His ranking position has steadily risen throughout the year and after his worlds performance he is now in 5^th spot.

With many riders moving up in the index there will always be others going the opposite direction. The big fallers this week were the riders who excelled in the 2011 world championships. Mark Cavendish, the 2011 champion, has dropped to the lowest position of the year: 7^th. The Manxman has not had a stellar season but still picked up 15 wins throughout the season including six grand tour stages.

Matthew Goss narrowly lost out to Cavendish in the 2011 worlds and has spent much of this year finishing runner up. The Australian has come in second place eight times this year and only notched up two victories. Despite this Goss has still maintained a high position in the Pro Cycling Index due to his consistent high placing on sprint stages especially in grand tours where he had 11 top ten finishes. Goss dropped 15 places to 36^th after his point’s loss from the 2011 World Road Race.

Further down the Index a big mover was the American Taylor Phinney. The rider from BMC climbed 31 places to 54^th after his second place in the World Time Trial. This is another great achievement for the young rider who wore the Pink Jersey at the Giro d’Italia this year and has pain of finishing in fourth place in the Olympic road race and time trial.

Johan Van Summeren remains the rider in the top 200 who has raced the most days and total distance. In his 94 days of racing the Belgium rider has notched up an impressive 16,034km. He must be looking forward to the end of the season.

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) enjoyed a superb week at the Vuelta a España. He extended his advantage in the leader’s jersey and won two stages. The punchy Spanish climber is now just 257 points off second spot in the IG Index, currently held by Tom Boonen. If Rodriguez can hold onto his lead and win the Vuelta a España then he should overtake Boonen and claim second spot for himself.

As the Vuelta a España has developed it has become clear that three riders are stronger than the rest of the field. On every mountain top finish Rodriguez, Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador have ridden away from the rest of the field. There is just two minutes separating the three Spaniards at the top of the general classification.

Alberto Contador has still yet to win a stage of the race but has come in the top five in seven stages so far. He is currently second overall and just 28 seconds behind Rodriguez. His consistency means in the last week he has become the highest riser in the Index this week. However his lack of stage wins still leaves him outside the top 200. He is now 213th up from 396th last week. There is no doubt he will move into the top 200 if he continues his strong return to the professional peloton after his doping suspension.

While some riders are moving up the Index due to their strong performances at the Vuelta other are dropping down the rankings. Last year’s winner of the race, Juan Jose Cobo, has struggled to replicate his astonishing form. After falling away on hard stages in the first week he has been relegated to the role of domestique for team leader Valverde and had to sacrifice any personal ambitions in the race. His is currently 62nd and has not been able to defend many of the points he won last year. As a result he has continued his slide down the rankings, and this week he fell 11 spots to 49th.

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) also had a great Vuelta a España in 2011 finishing fourth overall. This year he went into the race as one of Rabobank’s three leaders for GC with Robert Gesink and Laurens ten Dam. Mollema has not been able to keep up with his two teammates during the toughest of stages and is 24th overall while his teammates are both in the top 10. His point losses this week mean he has dropped out of the top 20. Taking his place is German speedster John Degenkolb who continued his domination of the sprint stages at the Vuelta this week. He has four stage wins in the race so far and is now 19th in the IG Pro Cycling Index one place above Matthew Goss.

There was only one change in the top ten this week with Andre Greipel moving up to 7th after his second place overall in the inaugural World Ports Classic (Tier 4). This week sees the conclusion of the Vuelta a España but there are also some other races taking place. On Thursday and Sunday the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal take place. These WorldTour races have been growing year on year since their creation. As a result they were moved up a tier at the end of the last year so they now sit in tier two alongside other such one day races like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and La Fleche Wallone. Another race that moved up a tier last year was the Tour of Britain. It is now a tier three race and it gets underway on Sunday with a strong field starting including Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins.

Joaquim Rodriguez has started the Vuelta a España with a bang and has moved himself back up to third place in the Index. The Spaniard has held the leader’s jersey for seven days already, won a stage and come second in another three.

In last year’s Vuelta a España Rodriguez won two stages but only came 19th overall. The signs so far are pointing towards a performance similar to this year’s Giro d’Italia where he came second. Tom Boonen and Bradley Wiggins remain in the two spots above him in the Index. It remains to be seen if he will be able to win his first Grand Tour as he faces tough pressure from Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador.

Alejandro Valverde, John Degenkolb and Simon Clarke are three of the other big movers due to their performances in the Vuelta so far. Clarke has had a quiet year with the majority of hi points coming from his second place at the Tour of Norway. But stage 4 of the Vuelta saw him get his biggest win of his career when he was the strongest of the days break and outsprinted Tony Martin (9th) in the final metres. Clarke moved up 36 places to 126th.

Valverde has won two stage of the Vuelta so far and has climbed seven spots and is now back in the top 20 in 18th place. John Degenkolb has been far and away the fastest sprinter in the peloton picking up four stages in the race so far. He is on the cusp on the top 20 in 22nd spot and is the highest ranked Argos Shimano rider by some way. Marcel Kittel is the next highest in 61st place.

The largest one day race that took place last week was the GP Ouest France – Plouay (Tier Two). Won by Grega Bole last year the race is often a close fight between sprinters and attacking riders. This year Edvald Boasson Hagen. The results propels Boasson Hagen back up to 11th spot.

The biggest stage race was the Tour of Denmark which sits in Tier four of the Index alongside races like the Tour of Utah and Beijing. This year’s winner was Lieuwe Westra who must be happy to finally win a stage race after coming second this year in Paris-Nice (Tier 1), KBC-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde (Tier 3) and the Tour of Belgium (Tier 3). The Dutchman moved up 11 places to 29th and is still Vacansoleil’s top ranked rider. He beat Ramunas Navardauskas and Manuele Boaro to second and third place respectively.

Highest mover of the week: Nacer Bouhanni from 160th to 118th. The French national champion has placed in the top ten seven times already in the Vuelta a España.

With the changes to the cycling calendar due to the Olympics there were two big one day races taking place last week. The Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian and Vattenfall Cyclassics are both WorldTour races. In the IG Pro Cycling Index they are in different tiers with San Sebastian in tier two alongside such races as Strade Bianche and Gent-Wevelgem. Vattenfall Cyclassics is a tier three race alongside races like Paris-Bruxelles and Giro del Piemonte.

The Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian normally takes place the weekend after the Tour de France finishes. This year it was pushed back in the calendar due to the Olympic Games. Luis Leon Sanchez still managed to retain his form from the Tour de France to take the win. The Spaniard attacked out of a group of twenty riders to in the closing stages. It was a bold and daring move and he now stands in 23rd spot in the Index. It should be noted that Sanchez still retains both titles of the greatest distance and days raced in the last 12 months. In total he has raced 16,409 kilometres and 105 days.

In the sprint behind Sanchez Simon Gerrans led home the group followed by Gianni Meersman. Gerrans is now in 12th place in the Index and is the highest placed Australian and Orica Greenedge rider. Meersman was one of the week’s biggest movers in the top 200 with the points his third place gave him. He jumped up 76 positions to 96th in the Index. The Belgium rider is now racing the Vuelta a España where he will be aiming to win his first ever grand tour stage win.

The Vattenfall Cyclassics is one of the few one day races in the calendar that is favourable to the sprinters. The past winners include  sprinters such as Zabel, McEwen and Freire. This year’s race was decided in a sprint once again after lots of attacking racing from 60km to go. It was young Frenchman Arnaud Demare who won the sprint by a clear distance. Demare won the under 23 world championships last year but this is his most impressive win in 2012. He is now 46th overall in the Index which is a very high position for a first year professional. He is also the top ranked rider in the FDJ-Big Mat team above riders like Hutarovich (58th) and Fedrigo (61st). Clearly Demare has a bright future ahead of him and will be a key rider for his team next year.

Andre Greipel came second behind Demare in Vattenfall and as a results moved up two places and back into the top ten in 9th spot. The defending champion, Edvald Boasson Hagen, could only manage 5th place and as a result lost much of his points total from the race. He dropped six places in the Index to 18th spot.

There were some new entries further down the top 200 in the form of Jeremy Roy (146th) and Yukiya Arashiro (148th). Both had impressive rides at the Tour de Limousin (Tier 4). Roy won the decsive final stage from Arashiro but the Japanese rider took the overall win as Roy lost time on stage 2.

This week is action packed full of racing. The third and final grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana, dominates the week. There two other stage races going on; the US Pro Cycling Challenge (Tier 3) in America and the Tour of Denmark (Tier 4). Then on Sunday the Tier two one day race the GP Ouest France-Plouay takes place.