"Wins alone won't get you into the 2027 WorldTour races": Fabian Cancellara admits Tudor needs to adapt to UCI ranking's needs

Tudor Pro Cycling have enjoyed a moderate success during the 2026 Giro d'Italia thanks to Michael Storer's 7th place in the general classification. If anything was missing, it has to be a stage win - or at least coming close to one. Not only because of the prestige, but also as a very effective source of UCI points - something Tudor Pro Cycling inevitably craves for with the WorldTour wild cards for 2027 in mind.

Because, at the moment, Tudor's situation is not phenomenal, considering the team's undeniable potential with riders like Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi or Stefan Küng among their ranks. Fellow Swiss ProTeam Pinarello Q36.5 leads the pack with 4975 points, 100 points ahead of Cofidis.

Tudor is third with 4551.7 points, which would guarantee them automatic invitations, however fourth Unibet Rose Rockets are not that far behind at 4249 points at the start of June.

"It's the ranking at the end of the season that counts," Tudor team owner Fabian Cancellara told Cyclingnews after the 2026 Giro d'Italia where his riders completed a good race.

The promotion system, which seems to advantage teams which can rank consistently on top, regardless of race level, required many teams to adjust their racing strategies, just like XDS Astana Team (currently 5th in the world) have done last year, but it also sparked a notable controversy.

"The ranking and fight for the WorldTour invitations sparks a lot of discussion but at the end of the day the UCI ranking points are important."

Cancellara further admits that adjusting to this system has not been easy to align with sponsor goals, who would rather see the best riders at biggest races, even though it's hardly a point-efficient approach at times. "You can win ten races and not have a lot of points but the wins won't get you into the 2027 WorldTour races, unless you consistently also score points. These are the rules we have to play by and we know that."

Tudor Pro Cycling entered the 2026 Giro d'Italia with two GC cards, and ultimately ended up with Michael Storer in seventh overall, and young French teammate Mathys Rondel 11th. This was enough to move back past Unibet Rockets in the ranking after the disastrous spring.

"Michael and Mathys had a good Giro, and we scored points and raced well. It was important to do both. Some people may say we weren't at the sharp end of the race but I'm proud that they both went on the attack in the Queen stage in the Dolomites and so went close to jumping up the GC," Cancellara praised his two leaders.

"We almost turned the top ten upside down that day and that's what Tudor Pro Cycling is all about. We want to race, not just score points. We could have asked Mathys to sacrifice his GC result to chase stage wins and points but that didn't seem the right thing to do in his Grand Tour debut. We're also developing riders and the team for the future."