April 24, 2007 – Davide Rebellin’s (Ita) Gerolsteiner second place finish in Amstel made the Italian the ProTour’s third leader – and a solid candidate for final victory.

It’s been an action-packed 10 days at the top end of the UCI ProTour rankings. First Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wrenched the lead from compatriot Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) by finishing third in Gent-Wevelgem. But then Stuart O’Grady (CSC) shot into the number one spot thanks to his amazing breakaway in Paris-Roubaix which converted him into the first Australian to win the Queen of the Classics.

Seven days and one UCI ProTour race later, and now after he finished second behind Gerolsteiner team-mate Stefan Schumacher in Amstel Gold, Rebellin has ousted the CSC rider as UCI ProTour leader.

A tenacious rider, even at 35 the veteran Rebellin could prove difficult to topple. Third in the UCI ProTour’s final rankings in 2005, in 2007 Rebellin has once again already proved himself a force to be reckoned with in cycling’s top league after finishing a very close second in Paris-Nice this year behind Contador.

Had events panned out differently there, Rebellin would already have been in the lead. As it is, he is now 10 points clear of Freire, 13 points up on O’Grady – and almost certain to gain more points in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this week, both races Rebellin has won in the past.

CSC’s leader Frank Schleck was unable to fully defend his 2006 Amstel win after he crashed in the final two hours of this year’s race – but his squad nonetheless have made it back into the number one spot in the UCI ProTour teams rankings.

Long-time leaders Discovery Channel finally cracked at Amstel, and CSC are a mere five points clear of the Americans. Liquigas, whose rider Danilo Di Luca placed third in Amstel behind the two Gerolsteiners, are in third place, tied on points with Discovery Channel.

The nations battle is turning into an equally close-run affair. Spain continues to dominate with 282 points, but Italy are closing the gap and now stand just 46 points behind in second place and Germany continue their steady rise in the rankings thanks to Schumacher’s victory in Amstel to move into third with 211.

Can Spain successfully fend off her pursuers? That answer will only start to become clearer some time on Wednesday afternoon, when the riders struggle to the top of the Mur de Huy in Belgium’s Flèche Wallonne race for a third, definitive time.

Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, sixth in Amstel and last year’s winner of Flèche is a clear favourite to repeat that victory in 2007. However – given he is a relative newcomer to the podium in one-day UCI ProTour racing – Schumacher’s win in Holland is a timely reminder that in the major Classics, crystal ball gazing can be a risky business…and in a top-class event like Fleche, over 200 kilometres long and with a lethally steep climb as its grand finale, it is never too safe to make bold predictions.

ProTour Standings

1. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 92 pts
2. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 82
3. Stuart O’grady (Aus) Team Csc 79
4. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 75
5. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 58
6. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 57
7. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step – Innergetic 57
8. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 53
9. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 50
10. Roger Hammond (Gbr) T-Mobile Team 45
11. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 45
12. Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 45
13. Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 44
14. Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 41
15. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team 40
16. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank 40
17. Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor-Lotto 40
18. Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 40
19. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 38
20. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse D’epargne 38
21. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse D’epargne 37
22. Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 36
23. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 30
24. Björn Leukemans (Bel) Predictor-Lotto 30
25. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 30
26. Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 28
27. Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 25
28. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25
29. Roberto Petito (Ita) Liquigas 25
30. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25
31. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 23
32. David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse D’epargne 23
33. Francisco Jos̩ Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Saunier Duval РProdir 22
34. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 22
35. Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 21
36. Matthias Kessler (Ger) Astana 20
37. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 20
38. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 20
39. Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française des Jeux 15
40. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 15
41. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 15
42. Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 10
43. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana 10
44. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram 10
45. Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval – Prodir 9
46. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse D’epargne 8
47. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step – Innergetic 7
48. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank 7
49. Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com 5
50. Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step – Innergetic 5
51. Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 5
52. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 3
53. Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 3
54. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3
55. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team CSC 3
56. Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 3
57. Jos̩ Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval РProdir 3
58. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 3
59. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3
60. David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir 3
61. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3
62. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 3
63. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2
64. Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 2
65. Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram 2
66. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 2
67. Patxi Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre-Fondital 2
68. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas 2
69. José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Astana 2
70. Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 2
71. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prevoyance 1
72. Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval – Prodir 1
73. Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1
74. Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1
75. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Quick Step – Innergetic 1
76. Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1
77. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 1
78. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 1
79. Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 1