2017 UCI World Tour

2017 UCI WorldTour
Ninth edition of the UCI World Tour
Details
Dates17 January – 24 October
Location
  • Australia
  • China
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • North America
Races37
Champions
Individual championGreg Van Avermaet (Belgium) (BMC Racing Team)
Teams' championTeam Sky
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The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2017 men's cycling season.[1] It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition started with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 17 January and concluded with the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi on 24 October.[2] Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the defending champion.[3] The 2017 edition featured ten new events.[2]

Sagan was unable to defend his World Tour title, winning just one race overall at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in September,[4] as he finished fourth in the points rankings; he finished one point behind third-placed Tom Dumoulin. The rankings were topped for the first time by Belgian rider Greg Van Avermaet,[5] riding for the BMC Racing Team, who amassed 3,582 points with the newly-enlarged points-scoring system over the course of the season. Van Avermaet led the standings for the majority of the season, winning four races overall; three on home soil at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,[6] E3 Harelbeke,[7] and Gent–Wevelgem,[8] with a single win in France at Paris–Roubaix.[9] Van Avermaet finished 130 points clear of Great Britain's Chris Froome, riding for Team Sky. Froome won two of the three Grand Tours to be held in 2017, winning his fourth Tour de France,[10] before taking a first Vuelta a España success, the first Tour–Vuelta double in 39 years.[11] The success gave him the World Tour points lead for several hours before Van Avermaet surpassed him with a seventh-place finish at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.

In the concurrent teams' standings, Team Sky prevailed with 12,806 points,[12] as Froome's victories were added to by Michał Kwiatkowski (Strade Bianche, Milan–San Remo and Clásica de San Sebastián), Sergio Henao (Paris–Nice) and Elia Viviani (EuroEyes Cyclassics and Bretagne Classic Ouest–France). 154 points behind in second place were Quick-Step Floors,[12] who took 30 victories on World Tour races (including 16 Grand Tour stages) during the 2017 season, with overall victories for Yves Lampaert (Dwars door Vlaanderen) and Philippe Gilbert (Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race). With 10,961 points,[12] BMC Racing Team finished in third place primarily down to Van Avermaet's performances, with further wins to Richie Porte (Tour Down Under and Tour de Romandie) and Dylan Teuns at the Tour de Pologne.

  1. ^ "UCI expands WorldTour to 37 events". Cycling News. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b "The UCI reveals expanded UCI WorldTour calendar for 2017". UCI. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Sagan, Movistar top final UCI WorldTour rankings". Cycling News. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Peter Sagan wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Roche and Hermans lead BMC at inaugural Tour of Guangxi". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017. As expected, there is no place in the BMC line-up for Greg Van Avermaet, though the Belgian is expected to attend the UCI Gala on the final evening of the race, where he will be crowned winner of the 2017 WorldTour.
  6. ^ Wynn, Nigel (25 February 2017). "Greg Van Avermaet pips Peter Sagan to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory". Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Van Avermaet wins E3 Harelbeke". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Greg Van Avermaet wins Gent-Wevelgem". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Van Avermaet wins Paris-Roubaix". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  10. ^ Fletcher, Paul (23 July 2017). "Tour de France 2017: Chris Froome wins yellow jersey for the fourth time". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  11. ^ Fotheringham, William (10 September 2017). "Chris Froome seals Vuelta a España title to win historic Vuelta-Tour double". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Fletcher, Patrick (24 October 2017). "Van Avermaet and Van der Breggen crowned 2017 WorldTour champions". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 25 October 2017.