UAE remain stable at the top of UCI rankings - Arkea threaten Cofidis and DSM's World Tour position
Cycling
The month of March sees plenty high-level racing with Strade Bianche, Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, Volta a Catalunya and the Flandrien classics among others and this sees changes in the UCI rankings.
At the top of the standings remains UAE Team Emirates, currently with almost 4000 points in the three-year rankings; and over 2500 in the season. UAE focus on the points specifically and at the time being has 7816 points according to Raul Banqueri's most recent update, only three teams have over half of this teams points: Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Soudal - Quick-Step. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale retreat to fifth place after a tremendous start to the season.
Cofidis and Astana Qazaqstan Team are the two World Tour teams who have scored the least points this season but it is not a significant buffer to others. Cofidis currently has 12.049 points whilst Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL has 11.082 and Arkéa - B&B Hotels have 9573. The gap to the Dutch team has gone down slightly since the last update and now with 1500 points separating the two, it is fully possible that the French team will get back into the fight if they continue to perform as they have over the past month.
Astana Qazaqstan Team have, unfortunately for their case, not improved their situation in any way as they sit with 8294 points and continue to be the lowest-scoring World Tour team of the year. The Kazakh team grows more and more distant of the red line as Mark Cavendish continues to struggle to match his fellow sprinters and the team simply lacks riders scoring any meaningful points. In the fight for the wildcards, despite very strong performance, Tudor Pro Cycling Team find themselves now more distant from Lotto Dstny and Israel - Premier Tech who have both have stupendous collective performances over the opening months of the season.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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UCI ranking analysis! Arkéa is starting to score points and is threatening the teams in the top18. Cofidis and DSM are the most vulnerable WorldTeams at the moment. Lotto and Israel already have a big lead in the fight for 2025 WorldTour wildcards. Full analysis 👇
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