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- In this video, we're gonna explain what UCI point are,
how they're scored, how they're weighted
in different races from the Tour de France,
one day classics, and week long stage races,
and crucially, why they're important
and why you need to know about them.
Firstly, we're gonna explain why
riders want to score UCI points.
When riders compete in a UCI ranked race,
there's an opportunity to score UCI points,
and these points contribute to the rankings
of individual riders, trade teams, and also nations.
Now the points are important because riders and teams
require a certain quota, or number of these points,
in order to qualify for the top races.
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First, let's look at individual points.
Now points don't just win prizes,
they're also a really useful tool
for measuring a riders worth and value,
and this comes in handy when
negotiating selection for races,
and also salaries and contracts.
For 2019, there's gonna be a number of changes
and the first thing you need to be aware of
is that there's gonna be a separate ranking
for points scored in one day races
from the points scored in stage races.
So this means that a rider like Chris Froome
will probably have a really high stage race ranking
and perhaps a lower ranking in one day races,
where someone like Peter Sagan,
well, you'd expect him to have a really high
one day ranking and a lower stage race ranking.
And someone like Alejandro Valverde,
well, he'll probably just have
a really high ranking in both.
And this is new for 2019, previously,
points scored in one day and stage races were all combined.
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Team rankings are calculated by adding up the UCI points
that are scored by the riders on that team.
Now these aren't just for bragging rights,
they're important because teams need to score
a certain number of UCI points in order to maintain
a UCI World Tour license or,
in some cases, qualify for one.
And for the 2019 season, there are only 18 slots
available for UCI World Tour teams.
According to the UCI rules, World Tour licenses
are awarded based on the following criteria.
Sporting, ethical, financial,
administrative, and organisational criteria.
Now in order to obtain a World Tour license,
each of these criteria must be met.
With sporting referring to UCI points scored.
Now according to the rules,
if more applicants for licenses than the maximum number
of licenses available meet the ethical, financial,
administrative, and organisational criteria,
then the license commission will decide between them
based on the number of UCI points they've scored.
To avoid losing a World Tour license,
teams need to score points.
And this brings us on to the next important change
for 2019 that you need to be aware of.
So in 2019, the UCI is looking to reduce
the number of World Tour teams from 18,
as it currently is, to 16 for 2020.
And this means that the two teams that score
the fewest UCI points this season
are going to be relegated for 2020.
In addition, another new rule for 2019 is that
the two highest ranked teams in the division
below the World Tour, formerly known as Pro Continental,
will have the opportunity to race in UCI events
such as the Tour de France and one day classics.
It's also got a new name, it was previously Pro Continental,
but for 2019 it's gonna be called
the UCI Pro Series Division.
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So UCI rankings by nation, now these are important
because they determine how many riders
a nation can field in certain events
such as the World Championships or Olympics.
Now they also tell us which nation is the best,
(laughs) and at the moment it's Great Britain.
It's Spain.
(mumbles)
- Oh my God.
- The rankings are calculated by combining
the top eight riders from that nation.
Now in a race like the World Championships or the Olympics,
nations ranked one to 10
may take to the start line with eight riders,
nations ranked 11 to 20 may start with six riders,
nations ranked 20 to 30 may have four riders,
and nations ranking 31 to 50 may enter one rider.
Now if I rider's home nation isn't in the top 50,
but they have an individual rider with a top 200 ranking,
then that individual may also start too.
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Points are scored by placing highly in UCI races,
and the most prestigious the race, the more points on offer.
This is reflected in a race like the Tour de France,
and winning the overall in the tour is the single biggest
points score that a rider can get.
You get 1,000 points, and points are also awarded
all the way down to 60th place.
This is the same in other UCI races too.
Now for second place, you get 800 points,
for third place, 675, and for fourth place, 575,
and it carries on like that, you get the idea.
If you win one of the other grand tours,
say the Tour de Italia or the Vuelta a España,
you win 850 points.
To reflect their stature in the sport,
the monuments are heavily weighted too,
these being the five most prestigious one day races.
So you've got Paris Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders,
Milan San Remo, Liege Bastogne Liege, and Il Lombardia.
Win any of these and you bag yourself 600 points,
which means, well, in points terms at least,
two monuments a year is worth more
than the overall in the Tour.
The World Championships and Olympic road races
are right up there as well with 600 points
on offer for both of those races.
Now to win either of these races is, well, career defining,
and the points on offer reflect that.
Other one day races that are big,
but not quite as prestigious as the ones
we've just mentioned, have less points on offer.
A great example would be something like Strade Bianche,
where the winner receives 400 points.
Week long stage races, such as Paris Nice,
Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Critérium du Dauphiné
are worth 500 points for the winner of the overall GC,
meaning that they're worth slightly less than a monument,
however, in stage races, there are many other opportunities
to score points, so in reality,
my statement that two monuments are worth more than
the Tour de France is, well, complete rubbish.
Another interesting detail is that some races
arguably punch about their weight when it comes
to the amount of points on offer.
So a great example of this is the Tour Down Under
where the same number of points are on offer
as for Paris Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico.
Now the reason for this is good,
and it's because it incentives teams and riders to take part
in a race that's on the other side of the world,
is relatively new, and is early season,
because there's lots of valuable points up for grabs,
and also being UCI, it means that
all the UCI teams have to take part.
Less well established races offer winners 300 points,
and these include things like
the Ride London Surrey Classic,
the Tour of California, and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
As I mentioned, it's not all about GC placing.
In stage races, there are loads of UCI points on offer
for winning and placing on the individual stages,
and these tend to go all the way down to 5th place.
The Tour de France offers the biggest bonification,
in the words of Sean Kelly,
with 120 points on offer for a stage win.
Now that means that if you win five stages of the Tour,
that's equal in points to a monument, kinda,
a feat which Mark Cavendish has achieved.
Wining a stage of the Giro or the Vuelta is worth 100 points
while other stage races like Paris Nice offer less,
60 points for an individual stage win.
It doesn't end there though.
Points are also on offer for wearing a leader's jersey.
These aren't much though, so you get 25 points per day
you wear the yellow jersey in the Tour,
and you get just 10 points for every day
that you wear the ochre jersey in the Tour Down Under.
And if you win one of the other classifications,
such as the green sprinters jersey
or the mountains classification in the Tour,
you get 120 points for the overall.
Hope you found this video useful and interesting,
and if you have then please give it a thumbs up
and consider sharing it with your friends,
as we think it would be really cool for a wider audience
to understand how the World Tour works
and get more people following the sport,
not just when the Tour de France is on,
but throughout the entire racing season.
And the points system is quite detailed,
and I've not gone into every single detail
for risk of making this quite a long and boring video,
but if you've got any questions then feel free
to fire them in the comments section below.
In case you were wondering, the points system
for the Women's World Tour is fundamentally the same
as the men's although the numbers are different.
And here on GCN, we broadcast all the major races
live and for free, so if you'd like to watch them
then you can click down here for
a link to our page where they're streamed.
But until next time, give the video a thumbs up
and I'll see you later, bye.