Battle for World Tour spots explodes at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var

It is early in the season but every point will matter by the end of it. Team Arkéa Samsic and Lotto Soudal are two of the main teams that are currently in the battle for World Tour promotion and relegation respectively, and the battle was personal at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes.

Next season the World Tour licenses from 2023 to 2025 will be awarded and the 18 teams who have got the most UCI points accumulated from 2020-2022 will receive those licenses. Those are are below will race at Pro Teams division in 2023 (with the possibility of applying for World Tour in the 2024 season). With Alpecin - Fenix easily having that spot guarranteed unless something bizarre were to happen, several teams in the lower ranks are in an active battle to gather as many points as possible this year to stay, or be promoted to World Tour.

As you can see in the graphics below from Raúl Banqueri, you can verify that with the latest update in UCI points Arkéa Samsic is above the red line and overtaking several World Tour teams with the points from Nairo Quintana's win. Whilst Team BikeExchange - Jayco, Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux and Israel - Premier Tech are in a risky position, the pressure is on two teams specifically.

Both Cofidis and Lotto Soudal are below the red line and currently in position to be relegated to Pro Team status. The both have a gap of around 800 to 900 points that needs to be closed down or both teams face inevitable return, or in Lotto Soudal's case, the first time it will not be in the first division of cycling since the World Tour system was created.

At the three-stage race in France Nairo Quintana managed to attack the final stage and steal the overall from Wellens who had surprised and taken over the lead on stage two. This has allowed Arkéa to extend their current lead over Lotto Soudal and put the Belgian team into further trouble, with Guillaume Martin finishing third also netting important points to stay ahead for Cofidis.

With the season just barely started it will be an endurance race for the points, however the ones grabbed so far are not meaningless and put both World Tour teams that are below the red line under pressure. Wildcards apply for next season, meaning the first team below the red line will be automatically invited for all World Tour events, the situation Alpecin - Fenix is in this season.