| Seventh edition of theUCI World Tour | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 17 January – 24 October |
| Location |
|
| Races | 37 |
| Champions | |
| Individual champion | Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) (BMC Racing Team) |
| Teams' champion | Team Sky |
← 2016 2018 → | |
The2017UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-sevenroad cycling events throughout the2017 men's cycling season.[1] It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition started with the opening stage of theTour Down Under on 17 January and concluded with the final stage of theTour of Guangxi on 24 October.[2] Slovakia'sPeter Sagan was the defending champion.[3] The 2017 edition featured ten new events.[2]
Sagan was unable to defend his World Tour title, winning just one race overall at theGrand Prix Cycliste de Québec in September,[4] as he finished fourth in the points rankings; he finished one point behind third-placedTom Dumoulin. The rankings were topped for the first time by Belgian riderGreg Van Avermaet,[5] riding for theBMC Racing Team, who amassed 3,582 points with the newly-enlarged points-scoring system over the course of the season. Van Avermaet led the standings for the majority of the season, winning four races overall; three on home soil atOmloop Het Nieuwsblad,[6]E3 Harelbeke,[7] andGent–Wevelgem,[8] with a single win in France atParis–Roubaix.[9] Van Avermaet finished 130 points clear of Great Britain'sChris Froome, riding forTeam Sky. Froome won two of the three Grand Tours to be held in 2017, winning his fourthTour de France,[10] before taking a firstVuelta a España success, the first Tour–Vuelta double in 39 years.[11] The success gave him the World Tour points lead for several hours before Van Avermaet surpassed him with a seventh-place finish at theGrand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.
In the concurrent teams' standings, Team Sky prevailed with 12,806 points,[12] as Froome's victories were added to byMichał Kwiatkowski (Strade Bianche,Milan–San Remo andClásica de San Sebastián),Sergio Henao (Paris–Nice) andElia Viviani (EuroEyes Cyclassics andBretagne Classic Ouest–France). 154 points behind in second place wereQuick-Step Floors,[12] who took 30 victories on World Tour races (including 16 Grand Tour stages) during the 2017 season, with overall victories forYves Lampaert (Dwars door Vlaanderen) andPhilippe Gilbert (Tour of Flanders andAmstel Gold Race). With 10,961 points,[12] BMC Racing Team finished in third place primarily down to Van Avermaet's performances, with further wins toRichie Porte (Tour Down Under andTour de Romandie) andDylan Teuns at theTour de Pologne.
| Code | Official Team Name | Country | Groupset | Road Bike(s) | Time Trial Bike | Wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALM | AG2R La Mondiale (2017 season) |  France | Shimano | Factor Bikes 02 Factor Bikes ONE Factor Bikes ONE–S | Factor Bikes Slick | Mavic |
| AST | Astana (2017 season) |  Kazakhstan | Shimano / FSA | Argon 18 Gallium Pro Argon 18 Nitrogen Pro | E-118 Next | Vision Wheels |
| TBM | Bahrain–Merida (2017 season) |  Bahrain | Shimano | Merida Scultura Merida Reacto | Merida Warp | Fulcrum |
| BMC | BMC Racing Team (2017 season) |  United States | Shimano | BMC Teammachine SLR01 BMC Timemachine TMR01 BMC Granfondo GF01 | BMC TimeMachine TM01 | Shimano |
| BOH | Bora–Hansgrohe (2017 season) |  Germany | TBC | Specialized Venge S-Works Tarmac Specialized Roubaix | Specialized Shiv | Roval |
| CDT | Cannondale–Drapac (2017 season) | United States | Shimano | Cannondale SuperSix EVO Cannondale Synapse | Cannondale Slice | Mavic |
| DDD | Team Dimension Data (2017 season) |  South Africa | Shimano/Rotor | Cervélo S5 Cervélo R5 Cervélo C5 | Cervélo P5 | Enve |
| FDJ | FDJ (2017 season) | France | Shimano | Lapierre Xelius SL Lapierre Aircode SL Lapierre Pulsium | Lapierre Aerostorm DRS | Shimano |
| KAT | Team Katusha–Alpecin (2017 season) |  Switzerland | SRAM | Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Canyon Aeroad CF SLX Canyon Endurance CF SL | Canyon Speedmax CF | Zipp |
| TLJ | LottoNL–Jumbo (2017 season) |  Netherlands | Shimano | Bianchi OltreXR2 Bianchi Specialissima Bianchi Infinito CV | Bianchi Aquila CV | Shimano |
| LTS | Lotto–Soudal (2017 season) |  Belgium | Campagnolo | Ridley Helium SLX Ridley Noah SL Ridley Fenix SL | Ridley Dean Fast | Campagnolo |
| MOV | Movistar Team (2017 season) |  Spain | Campagnolo | Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Canyon Aeroad CF SLX | Canyon Speedmax CF | Campagnolo |
| ORS | Orica–Scott (2017 season) |  Australia | Shimano | Scott Foil Scott Addict | Scott Plasma | Shimano |
| QST | Quick-Step Floors (2017 season) | Belgium | Shimano FSA | Specialized Venge S-Works Tarmac Specialized Roubaix | Specialized Shiv | Roval HED |
| SKY | Team Sky (2017 season) |  Great Britain | Shimano | Pinarello Dogma F8 Pinarello Dogma K8-S | Pinarello Bolide | Shimano |
| SUN | Team Sunweb (2017 season) | Germany | Shimano | Giant TCR Advanced SL Giant Propel Advanced SL Giant Defy Advanced SL | Giant Trinity | Shimano |
| TFS | Trek–Segafredo (2017 season) | United States | Shimano | Trek Emonda Trek Madone Trek Domane | Trek SpeedConcept | Bontrager |
| UAD | UAE Team Emirates (2017 season) |  United Arab Emirates | Campagnolo | Colnago C60 Colnago Concept Colnago V1-R | Colnago K-Zero | Campagnolo |
All events from the2016 UCI World Tour were included, although some events were scheduled on different dates than previous editions. Ten new events were also added to the calendar.[2][14] An eleventh event, theTour of Qatar, was originally added to the calendar in October 2016, but it was cancelled in December 2016 due to lack of sponsorship support.[15][16] Another new-for-2017 World Tour event, thePresidential Tour of Turkey, was postponed from its initial dates of 18–23 April, in February.[17] In March, following a meeting of the UCI Professional Cycling Council, the race was rescheduled for 10–15 October.[18]
A new points ranking was also introduced for the 2017 season, based upon the points scales for theUCI World Ranking. Therefore, up to 60 riders – up from a maximum of 20 riders at the Grand Tours – would be able to score points in all races.[19][20] As well as the new points rankings, the previous ranking by nations was also removed.[20]
Just as in2016, theteam time trial at theUCI World Championships, scheduled to be held on 17 September, had been due to award points towards the team rankings. In August 2017, the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP) agreed a deal with the UCI to avoid a boycott of the race, but no points would be awarded towards the World Tour rankings.[21]
Riders tied with the same number of points were classified by number of victories, then number of second places, third places, and so on, in World Tour events and stages.
Team rankings were calculated by adding the ranking points of all the riders of a team in the table.[23]
As expected, there is no place in the BMC line-up for Greg Van Avermaet, though the Belgian is expected to attend the UCI Gala on the final evening of the race, where he will be crowned winner of the 2017 WorldTour.
