August 20, 2007 – As the season-long UCI ProTour enters the decisive final part of the season the individual rankings are as close as ever and could be decided in the final race of the competition, just a few hours before the prestigious trophy is presented to the winner.

Italy’s Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas kept his lead after the recent Deutschland Tour stage race and the Vattenfall Cyclassics one-day race with a total of 207 points, with Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel a close second with 191 points, and 2006 UCI ProTour winner Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne third with 190 points.

Germany’s Jens Voigt (Ger) CSC Team made history as the first rider to win the Deutschland Tour for two consecutive years and his strong ride in the nine-day race scored him 55 points. Italy’s Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre also scored highly by winning the Vattenfall Cyclassics race in Hamburg. His late attack completely surprised the sprinters and their teams and gave the tall Italian 40 UCI ProTour points, lifting him from 22nd place to 11th with a total of 110 points.

Spain’s Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank scored 30 points for finishing second in the Hamburg race and also moved up the individual rankings from tenth to seventh with a new total of 125 points. The three-time world champion always has an excellent second half of the season and victories in the one-day races such as the GP Ouest France-Plouay and Paris-Tours could lift him right to the top of the rankings.

CSC Dominate Team Rankings

Team CSC have won both the 2005 and 2006 UCI ProTour rankings and look set for a special third consecutive victory after strong rides in both the Deutschland Tour and the Vattenfall Cyclassics race.

Thanks to Voigt’s inspired ride on home roads, Team CSC finished best team in the stage race and so scored a maximum 20 points. They also scored 13 points in the Vattenfall Cyclassics race and took their points total to 314, an impressive 54 points more than second placed Caisse d’Epargne and 55 better than third placed Discovery Channel. In a similar manner, Italy also extended its lead in the nations rankings and now has a total of 675 points from placings throughout the 2007 UCI ProTour.

Team CSC will be out to score even more points in the Eneco Tour stage race between August 22 and August 29 but face a battle with Discovery Channel and Rabobank. Discovery Channel will be lead by Yaroslav Popovych, while Rabobank will have talented young rider Thomas Dekker. Both impressed in the Tour de France and the two time trials during the eight days of racing mean they will both be overall contenders.

Other big names in the race through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg include Kim Kirchen, the T-Mobile rider from Luxembourg, Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert of Francaise des Jeux. The sprinters will also be out in force in the many flat stages, with former world champion Tom Boonen of Quick Step facing major competition from Britain’s Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile), and Australian pair Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Robbie McEwen (Predictor). Every sprint and every UCI ProTour point will highly fought for.


ProTour standings after Vattenfall Cyclassics

Individual

1. Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 207 points
2. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 191
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 190
4. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor – Lotto 174
5. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 172
6. Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 129
7. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 125
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 118
9. Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d’Epargne 115
10. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 115
11. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 110
12. Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 88
13. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep – Innergetic 87
14. Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 86
15. Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 81
16. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC 79
17. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 78
18. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 76
19. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 74
20. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor – Lotto 74
21. Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval – Prodir 71
22. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas 70
23. Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 69
24. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 67
25. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 66
26. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 64
27. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 63
28. David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 62
29. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 62
30. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval – Prodir 62
31. Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 58
32. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep – Innergetic 58
33. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 57
34. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 56
35. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram 56
37. Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre – Fondital 54
38. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 53
39. Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 50
40. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 48
41. Roger Hammond (GBr) T-Mobile Team 45
42. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 45
43. Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 43
44. Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team 42
45. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 42
46. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 40
47. Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 40
48. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 40
49. David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 38
50. Chris Horner (USA) Predictor – Lotto 37
51. Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 36
52. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 35
53. Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 35
54. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team 34
55. Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 34
56. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 33
57. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 32
58. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 32
59. Roberto Petito (Ita) Liquigas 31
60. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 31
61. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 31
62. Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep – Innergetic 30
63. Bj̦rn Leukemans (Bel) Predictor РLotto 30
64. Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com 30
65. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 30
66. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 30
67. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 29
68. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 29
69. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval – Prodir 29
70. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 28
71. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 27
72. Francisco Jos̩ Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Saunier Duval РProdir 22
73. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d’Epargne 22
74. Chris Sörensen (Den) Team CSC 20
75. John Gadret (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 20
76. Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 19
77. Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 19
78. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 17
79. Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quickstep – Innergetic 15
80. Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française des Jeux 15
81. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 15
82. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 15
83. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com 15
84. Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15
85. C̩dric Vasseur (Fra) Quickstep РInnergetic 15
86. Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 15
87. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep – Innergetic 15
88. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 13
89. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas 13
90. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2r Prévoyance 11
91. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 10
92. Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 10
93. Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 10
94. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana 10
95. Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 10
96. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC 10
97. Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 10
98. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 10
99. George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 10
100. Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 10
101. Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 10
102. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 9
103. Patxi Javier Vila Errandonea 9
104. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com 8
105. Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile Team 8
106. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 8
107. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 8
108. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 8
109. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 8
110. Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram 8
111. Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 8
112. Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 8
113. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 8
114. Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Team Milram 8
115. Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) Team Milram 8
116. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram 8
117. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank 7
118. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 7
119. Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com 7
120. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 7
121. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre – Fondital 7
122. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 7
123. Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 7
124. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 7
125. Steven Cummings (GBr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 7
126. Fuyu Li (Chn) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 7
127. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Quickstep – Innergetic 6
128. Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 6
129. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 6
130. Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas 6
131. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 6
132. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas 6
133. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 6
134. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 6
135. Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team 6
136. Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 5
137. Gustav Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com 5
138. Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quickstep – Innergetic 5
139. Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 5
140. S̩bastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep РInnergetic 5
141. Laurent Mangel (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 5
142. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 5
143. Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step – Innergetic 5
144. Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 5
145. Axel Merckx (Bel) T-Mobile Team 5
146. Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic 5
147. Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quickstep – Innergetic 5
148. Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr) Quickstep – Innergetic 5
149. Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 4
150. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole 4
151. Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d’Epargne 4
152. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 4
153. Jos̩ Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval РProdir 4
154. Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 4
155. Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 4
156. José Antonio Redondo Ramos 4
157. Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 3
158. Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 3
159. David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir 3
160. Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2r Prévoyance 3
161. Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 3
162. Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas 3
163. Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 3
164. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team CSC 3
165. Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3
166. David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 3
167. Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3
168. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3
169. Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 3
170. Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3
171. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 3
172. Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3
173. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana 3
174. Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 3
175. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas 3
176. Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quickstep – Innergetic 3
177. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 3
178. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 2
179. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 2
180. Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 2
181. Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2
182. Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 2
183. Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 2
184. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
185. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 2
186. Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis РLe Cr̩dit par T̩l̩phone 2
187. Bert Roesems (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
188. Nick Ingels (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
189. Tom Steels (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
190. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
191. Dominique Cornu (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 2
192. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana 2
193. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana 2
194. Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram 2
195. Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 2
196. Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2r Prévoyance 1
197. Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 1
198. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 1
199. Nicolas Rousseau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1
200. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 1
201. Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux 1
202. José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance 1
203. Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 1
204. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 1
205. Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1
206. Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1
207. Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 1
208. Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1
209. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1
210. Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1
211. Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1
212. Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 1
213. Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 1
214. Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1
215. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 1