The UCI has listened - Big changes in points system implemented ahead of 2023

The UCI rankings have been at the dead center of many discussions, controversies and outright influence on how many races' outcome this year, but after consideration, the UCI has revealed changes to the system.

This has been critical this year because of the promotion and relegation system. The Top 18 teams in terms of UCI points from 2020 to 2022 have been given a UCI license, which includes Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkéa Samsic, whilst Lotto Soudal and Israel - Premier Tech have been relegated to Pro Team level. Throughout the entire season several teams have been in a constant battle to score as many points as possible.

Frequently, criticism did not only come from fans, but from riders and team managers themselves. Many changed schedules, withdrew teams from specific races and raced more conservatively in order to be as efficient in terms of points. This was not to the liking of some, as were the points systems implemented which benefited a lot focus on smaller and one-day races, whereas the Grand Tours and World Tour events saw less reward.

Into 2023, when the 2023-2025 cycle begins, the points scored by race will be different, as the UCI listened to concerns from the participants and has made the effort to make it a more fair approach, and one that benefits that bigger races.

The announcement includes the following changes:

.Increase in the number of points attributed by the three Grand Tours – the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta Ciclista a España (final general classification, stage and secondary classifications);

.Creation of a special category for the five Monuments (Milano-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia) with a greater number of points attributed to them compared with the other one-day races on the UCI WorldTour;

.Increase in the number of points attributed during stages of races of the UCI WorldTour and of the UCI ProSeries; in future, points will be awarded for finishes lower than third place (all the way down to fifth, tenth or 15th, depending on the competition);

.Increase in the number of points distributed during the Olympic Games and the UCI Road World Championships (road races and time trials in the Elite categories).

The changes have a clear goal in mind, they "are aimed at encouraging teams to enter their best riders in the most important races and to ensure a better correlation between the points awarded and the sporting achievement involved," the press release said.

Most criticized was the amount of points gained in a 1.1 race could be as high as a Tour de France stage win. Situations such as those should not be seen with such importance following the news system.

Another significant change is that not only the points from the best 10 riders will count on the team's tally, but the best 20. This will significantly improve teams that have several leaders, wins from breakaways from riders who usually score less points, and overall point distribution.

In conclusion, the UCI has also revealed a slight change to the wildcard system, which sees Israel - Premier Tech receive automatic wildcards not only to World Tour one-day races, but also to the stage-races except for the Grand Tours. As is the case with Lotto Soudal, this does not mean a mandatory presence, as the Belgian team has decided to withdraw from several races including the Giro d'Italia.