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Valverde, his team and his country take over world rankings
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Alejandro Valverde's win at the Dauphine solidified his position atop the UCI's world rankings, and also brought hit team, Caisse d'Epargne, and country, Spain, to the top of their respective rankings.
Valverde has earned points at Fleche Wallone (where he was seventh), the Tour de Romandie (where he was in the top 10 in three stages) and with his wins at the Volta Catalunya and the Dauphine.
The rankings are weighted toward the grand tours, which is how Denis Menchov remains in third with the 218 points he picked up on the way to winning the Giro d'Italia.
And which is why the rankings are likely to look quite different after the Tour de France. A Tour overall win is worth 200 points and a Tour stage win is worth 20. A Giro or Vuelta a Espana overall win is worth 170 points and a stage win in those races is worth 16.
By comparison, a win at a handful of major classics and smaller stage races (for example Paris-Roubaix, the Tour Down Under, Paris-Nice) is worth 100 points, and at smaller races (for example, Gent-Wevelgem, Fleche Wallone), a win is worth 80 points.
