| Eighth edition of theUCI World Tour | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16 January – 21 October |
| Location |
|
| Races | 37 |
| Champions | |
| Individual champion | Simon Yates (Great Britain) (Mitchelton–Scott) |
| Teams' champion | Quick-Step Floors |
← 2017 2019 → | |
The2018UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-sevenroad cycling events throughout the2018 men's cycling season.[1] It was the tenth and final edition of the ranking system launched by theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition began with the opening stage of theTour Down Under on 16 January and concluded with the final stage of theTour of Guangxi on 21 October.[2] Belgium'sGreg Van Avermaet was the defending champion.[3]
Van Avermaet was unable to defend his World Tour title, as he failed to take a single individual win – he was a part of three team time trial victories for theBMC Racing Team however – as he finished fifth in the points rankings. The rankings were topped for the first time by British riderSimon Yates, riding for theMitchelton–Scott team, who amassed 3,072 points over the course of the season.[4] Yates was the last of four riders to take the overall lead of standings during the season; he had ranked highly in the standings earlier in 2018, taking stage victories atParis–Nice,[5] and theVolta a Catalunya,[6] before a break-through performance at theGiro d'Italia with three stage wins and thirteen days in the race lead; ultimately, Yates cracked in the mountains during the third week and ceded overall victory to compatriotChris Froome.[7] After another stage win and a second-place overall finish at theTour de Pologne,[8] Yates won his first Grand Tour at theVuelta a España,[9] taking the race lead definitively after a stage victory on stage fourteen,[10] and the rankings lead when the race concluded.[4]
80 points behind, in second place, was Slovakia'sPeter Sagan, riding forBora–Hansgrohe.[4] Sagan led the standings for most of the season, having recorded consistent top-six finishes during the spring Classic races, with victories atGent–Wevelgem,[11] and for the first time,Paris–Roubaix.[12] Sagan won three stages at theTour de France as he won a record-equalling sixthpoints classification victory,[13] but was unable to win any stages at the Vuelta a España, where Yates took the lead. In third place, with 2,609 points,[4] wasAlejandro Valverde of Spain, who rode for theMovistar Team. Valverde held the rankings lead in the spring, winning two general classifications at theAbu Dhabi Tour,[14] and the Volta a Catalunya,[6] in February and March – winning three stages over those races as well – before two stage victories and victory in thepoints classification at the Vuelta a España.
In the concurrent teams' standings,Quick-Step Floors prevailed with 13,425.97 points, having held the classification lead for three-quarters of the season, and not been headed since late March. The team took 37 victories – out of a total of 73 wins during all UCI-classified races[15] – at the World Tour level, including seven overall victories taken byNiki Terpstra (E3 Harelbeke and theTour of Flanders),[16][17]Yves Lampaert (Dwars door Vlaanderen),[18]Julian Alaphilippe (La Flèche Wallonne andClásica de San Sebastián),[19][20]Bob Jungels (Liège–Bastogne–Liège),[21] andElia Viviani (EuroEyes Cyclassics).[22] The team also took 13 stage victories at the Grand Tours, with two classification jerseys won by Viviani (points at the Giro d'Italia),[23] and Alaphilippe, who won thepolka-dot jersey at the Tour de France.[24]2017 teams classification winnersTeam Sky finished second with 10,213 points, with the team winning two of the three Grand Tours; Froome became the seventh rider to win all three Grand Tours with his Giro d'Italia success,[25] whileGeraint Thomas won theTour de France,[26] after success at theCritérium du Dauphiné.[27] Team Sky took four other general classification victories:Michał Kwiatkowski wonTirreno–Adriatico,[28] and the Tour de Pologne,[8]Egan Bernal won theTour of California in his first season with the team,[29] whileGianni Moscon won the season-ending Tour of Guangxi.[30] With 9,201 points, Bora–Hansgrohe finished in third place primarily down to Sagan's performances, with further wins toJay McCarthy (Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race),[31] andPascal Ackermann at theRideLondon–Surrey Classic.[32] Ackermann andSam Bennett also took eleven World Tour stage victories between them during the season, with Bennett taking three at a Grand Tour, in the Giro d'Italia.[33]
| Code | Official Team Name | Country | Groupset | Road Bike(s) | Time Trial Bike | Wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALM | AG2R La Mondiale (2018 season) |  France | Shimano | Factor Bikes o2 Factor Bikes ONE Factor Bikes ONE–S | Factor Bikes Slick | Mavic |
| AST | Astana (2018 season) |  Kazakhstan | Shimano | Argon 18 Gallium Pro Argon 18 Nitrogen Pro Argon Krypton | E-118 Next | Corima |
| TBM | Bahrain–Merida (2018 season) |  Bahrain | Shimano | Merida Scultura Merida Reacto | Merida Warp | Fulcrum |
| BMC | BMC Racing Team (2018 season) |  United States | Shimano | BMC Teammachine SLR01 BMC Timemachine TMR01 BMC Roadmachine RM01 | BMC TimeMachine TM01 | Shimano |
| BOH | Bora–Hansgrohe (2018 season) |  Germany | Shimano | S-Works Venge S-Works Tarmac S-Works Roubaix | S-Works Shiv | Roval |
| DDD | Team Dimension Data (2018 season) |  South Africa | Shimano/Rotor | Cervélo S5 Cervélo R5 Cervélo C5 | Cervélo P5 | Enve |
| EFD | EF Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale (2018 season) | United States | Shimano/FSA | Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod | Cannondale Slice Hi-Mod | Vision |
| FDJ | Groupama–FDJ (2018 season) | France | Shimano | Lapierre Xelius SL Lapierre Aircode SL Lapierre Pulsium | Lapierre Aerostorm DRS | Shimano |
| TKA | Team Katusha–Alpecin (2018 season) |  Switzerland | SRAM | Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Canyon Aeroad CF SLX Canyon Endurace CF SL | Canyon Speedmax CF | Zipp |
| TLJ | LottoNL–Jumbo (2018 season) |  Netherlands | Shimano | Bianchi OltreXR4,OltreXR2 Bianchi Specialissima Bianchi Aria | Bianchi Aquila CV | Shimano |
| LTS | Lotto–Soudal (2018 season) |  Belgium | Campagnolo | Ridley Helium SLX Ridley Noah SL Ridley Fenix SL | Ridley Dean Fast | Campagnolo |
| MTS | Mitchelton–Scott (2018 season) |  Australia | Shimano | Scott Foil Scott Addict | Scott Plasma | Shimano |
| MOV | Movistar Team (2018 season) |  Spain | Campagnolo | Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Canyon Aeroad CF SLX Canyon Endurace CF SL | Canyon Speedmax CF | Campagnolo |
| QST | Quick-Step Floors (2018 season) | Belgium | Shimano/FSA | S-Works Venge S-Works Tarmac S-Works Roubaix | S-Works Shiv | Roval HED |
| SKY | Team Sky (2018 season) |  Great Britain | Shimano | Pinarello Dogma F10 Pinarello Dogma K8-S Pinarello GAN | Pinarello Bolide | Shimano |
| SUN | Team Sunweb (2018 season) | Germany | Shimano | Giant TCR Advanced SL Giant Propel Advanced SL Giant Defy Advanced SL | Giant Trinity | Giant |
| TFS | Trek–Segafredo (2018 season) | United States | Shimano | Trek Emonda Trek Madone Trek Domane | Trek SpeedConcept | Bontrager |
| UAD | UAE Team Emirates (2018 season) |  United Arab Emirates | Campagnolo | Colnago c64,C60 Colnago Concept Colnago V1-R | Colnago K-Zero | Campagnolo |
For riders that had the same number of points, ties in placings were resolved by number of victories, then number of second places, third places, and so on, in World Tour events and stages.[37]
For the team rankings,[37] this was calculated by adding the ranking points of all the riders of a team.[38]
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.
