The2004 UCI Road World Cup was the sixteenth and last edition of theUCI Road World Cup. There was no change in the calendar from the2003 edition, meaning the final seven editions had the same calendar.
Davide Rebellin ofGerolsteiner took a commanding lead in the standings following an excellentArdennes campaign, winning both theAmstel Gold Race and the MonumentLiège–Bastogne–Liège.Paolo Bettini's consistency through the season, however, saw the rider fromQuick-Step–Davitamon overhaul Rebellin to claim his third consecutive World Cup crown and the outright record for competition victories. Bettini's excellent form in August had much input into the final standings: three second places in the three races gave Bettini 210 points compared to the 112 points Rebellin accumulated in this time placing Bettini just 6 points behind in second place. On the August weekend without a World Cup race, Bettini won the gold medal in theOlympic Games road race.
In the team competition,T-Mobile Team edged outRabobank by a single point after Rabobank had led going into the final round.
The season opener atMilan–San Remo is particularly well remembered. In a sprint finish on the Via Roma,Erik Zabel thought he had done enough to secure victory and raised his arms in celebration. As he did,Óscar Freire was able to overtake him at the line and claim an improbable victory.
Bettini won the World Cup without winning a single race, only the second time this happened in World Cup history, after the1991 edition.
Points are awarded to the top 10 teams. Teams must start at least 8 races to be classified. The first 18 teams in world ranking must start in all races.The points are awarded for every race using the following system:
Paolo Bettini (ITA) (Quick-Step–Davitamon)
