Team BikeExchange - Jayco face real risk of relegation, as Lotto Soudal closes gap and Israel - Premier Tech scores big

This week has been crucial for World Tour teams fighting for their place on the top division, as the Tour de Suisse, Baloise Belgium Tour, Tour of Slovenia and Route d'Occitanie covered all bases and saw all teams in action seeking points - action covered by Raúl Banqueri.

The expected has happened, even before the Tour de France: Lotto Soudal has closed the gap to Team BikeExchange - Jayco. The Belgian team has finished second in the Belgium Tour with Tim Wellens, propelling them further into the Australian team which is about to go under the red line. Israel - Premier Tech have won La Route d'Occitanie and finished third at the Tour de Suisse with Michael Woods and Jakob Fuglsang respectively, also bringing them below 500 points of the two teams above.

BikeExchange saw a stage win at the Tour of Slovenia with Dylan Groenewegen which has kept them afloat, but the lead has been completely eliminated. They have also been distanced by EF Education-EasyPost who now have a 564-point gap to the two teams after Ruben Guerreiro and Esteban Chaves did a one-two at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, and Neilson Powless took a strong fourth place at the Tour de Suisse.

EF Education now sit less than 200 points away from Cofidis and Movistar Team. Although both teams have somewhat been able to keep themselves above the red line, the pressure to perform maintains so as to avoid calendar changes.

Although there is a much calmer week now ahead, the battle will very much remain active as the national championships are right around the corner. Depending on the country, a win can be worth either 100 or 50 points for the road race, and 50 or 25 points for the time-trial title. This will favour teams with more international outlooks such as EF Education-EasyPost and Israel - Premier Tech, however with the Tour de France looming ahead such differences will surely be minimal in comparison.