"Teams are racing in one level lower in order to stay in the WorldTour" - Wout van Aert critical of points system

Wout van Aert currently sits second in the UCI World Tour ranking, although that is a statistic that very likely does not pass through the head of the top riders in the peloton. At the bottom of the team standings though, many teams fight for every single point in order to stay afloat.

“It’s a bit contradictory. I think it’s a shame to see that some teams come with not their best riders to a race like the Dauphiné, because they need to send their best riders in one-day races," van Aert said recently whilst at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he currently leads the race. 

Sure enough, van Aert speaks within a position of a rider who has never had the slightest worry about relegation or has had it's teams worried about such occurence. It is the reality that several World Tour teams face currently, specially the likes of Lotto Soudal and Israel - Premier Tech who have over the last few months made changes so as to prioritize their UCI points chase - or face certain relegation.

“I completely understand the tactic, because it’s part of the system now, but they should rethink how to divide the points on the races to stay in the WorldTour level, because now teams are racing in one level lower in order to stay in the WorldTour," he concluded.

Van Aert will start stage seven of the Critérium du Dauphiné in the race lead, as Jumbo-Visma seek to bring home the overall classification of the race.