Decathlon AG2R and Lotto Dstny soar up UCI ranks in new update - UAE Team Emirates remains firmly in the lead

After the end of February, we've got new updates to the UCI rankings. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Lotto Dstny were the two teams that stood out in the key races of the month, whilst UAE Team Emirates has expanded itself in the lead.

Regarding the overall 2023-2025 rankings, one month is always going to make little change, but Decathlon - with Ben O'Connor's second place at the UAE Tour and victory at Vuelta a Murcia, Benoît Cosnefroy's victory at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes and other strong results have seen the team rise to 15th in the points standings. Now in front of Israel - Premier Tech, Cofidis and last surviving team Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL by almost 1200 points.

Above the red line continue to sit Arkéa B&B Hotels (2000 points behind DSM) and the Astana Qazaqstan Team (by almost 2700). If nothing abrupt changes, relegation is almost certain for both as we come close to half of the 2023-2025 period. When it comes to the 2024 rankings alone, Decathlon soared to second place impressively ahead of Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Soudal - Quick-Step. They already scored 2614 points this year, according to Raúl Banqueri, but still remain incredibly distant from top scorer UAE Team Emirates that has 4100.

Lotto Dstny has just won the UAE Tour with Lennert van Eetvelt, and had Maxim van Gils achieve extraordinary results recently. Alongside other strong results, even having Arnaud De Lie below expectations the Belgian team has placed itself 6th in the year rankings so far. They have 2141 points; Israel - Premier Tech has 1632 and both are the current highest scoring ProTeams - which would assure them automatic wildcards for all World Tour events next year. They are both having fantastic starts to the season, but still have to push hard as Tudor Pro Cycling Team continues to perform and currently has 1116 points - a score which is superior to three World Tour outfits this season so far.