June 5, 2007 – Victory in the Tour of Italy, thirteen stages in the pink leader’s jersey and two stage wins have paid dividends for Danilo Di Luca in the ProTour rankings.

The Liquigas rider has now ousted fellow-Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) – in the lead of the ProTour since he took second in Amstel Gold – from the number one spot.

On top of that Di Luca has a healthy advantage of 50 points over Rebellin, not to mention another 50 point advantage over third-placed Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D’Epargne).

Already victorious in the ProTour league in 2005, can Di Luca do it again in 2007? It’s too early to say.

But bear in mind that Di Luca’s current total of 207 points is just 22 less than the 229 he needed to win cycling’s top league back in 2005. It’s clear, then that after taking the Giro – the biggest victory of his career – Di Luca is well on track for doing so again.

There have been more important changes in the rankings. Further down the classification Damiano Cunego’s solid if unspectacular performance in the Tour of Italy has moved the Lampre rider into fourth place overall, forcing Milan-San Remo winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank) down a place to fifth.

As for the young Andy Schleck (CSC), whose second place in the Giro augers more than well for the future, the Luxemburg rider has made the biggest move of any pro in the top 20, moving from 56th to 6th place overall in one fell swoop.

But really, the rider most likely to threaten Di Luca’s new lead, at least short-term, is Alejandro Valverde. The Caisse D’Epargne rider will be the star of the Dauphine Libere stage, which starts this weekend with a short, flat prologue in Grenoble. Neither Rebellin nor Di Luca are due to take part.

With its ascent of the Ventoux on Thursday and full-blown incursion into the Alps 24 hours later, Valverde will have plenty of opportunities to shine – and increase his total of ProTour points.

In the teams classification Danish squad CSC remain in control, although their overall domination is steadily weakening. French team Ag2R, who were in third place after the Tour of Catalonia, have now moved up another spot to second ahead of Liquigas. In the process, CSC’s former 21 point advantage over the Italians has now shrunk to an 18 point advantage over the French. At the Dauphine, where the French will be more than motivated at their home race – Ag2R are based in Grenoble, where it starts – that advantage may shrink even more.

The nations classification appears to be far more settled, as Italy still leads Spain, Australia and Germany in the overall rankings with no change in the pecking order. But the Italians’ advantage over Spain, post Di Luca’s Giro success, has now stretched from 40 points (after the Tour of Catalonia) to a massive 231. Beating that margin will be no easy task at all.

Individual Ranking

1. Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 207 points
2. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 157
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 107
4. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 87
5. Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 82
6. Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC 81
7. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) CSC 79
8. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 75
9. Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 71
10. Paolo Salvoldelli (Ita) Astana 66