2008 UCI ProTour
Encyclopedia
The 2008 UCI ProTour is the fourth year of the UCI
ProTour
system. Following protracted disagreement between the organisers of the Grand Tours (ASO, RCS and Unipublic) and the UCI, all races organized by ASO, RCS and Unipublic were withdrawn from the ProTour calendar. This removed all three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia
, Tour de France
and Vuelta a España
), four of the five monuments (Milan – San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia) and four further races (Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, La Flèche Wallonne
and Paris–Tours). As such, the quality of the races of the ProTour was diminished. The Australia
n race, the Tour Down Under
was added to the calendar, making it the first race outside of Europe on the ProTour (although races had previously been held outside of Europe as part of the UCI Road World Cup).
The highly successful ceased operations at the end of the 2007 season. Johan Bruyneel
signed on to become the directeur sportif
and revamp the embattled ; joining him are 2007 Tour de France
champion Alberto Contador
and 2007 Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer
. Other major signings included American George Hincapie
moving to and Daniele Bennati
from to , while Giro d'Italia
winner Danilo Di Luca
left Liguigas for the UCI Professional Continental team .
Unibet.com Cycling Team
, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application renewal by the November 20, 2007 deadline.
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
system. Following protracted disagreement between the organisers of the Grand Tours (ASO, RCS and Unipublic) and the UCI, all races organized by ASO, RCS and Unipublic were withdrawn from the ProTour calendar. This removed all three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
, Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
and Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
), four of the five monuments (Milan – San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia) and four further races (Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne is a major men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Belgium.The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège...
and Paris–Tours). As such, the quality of the races of the ProTour was diminished. The Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n race, the Tour Down Under
Tour Down Under
The Tour Down Under is a cycling race in Adelaide, South Australia and surrounding area. The race starts on the third Tuesday of January each year and attracts riders from across Australia and the world. In 2005, the Tour Down Under was promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale to the...
was added to the calendar, making it the first race outside of Europe on the ProTour (although races had previously been held outside of Europe as part of the UCI Road World Cup).
The highly successful ceased operations at the end of the 2007 season. Johan Bruyneel
Johan Bruyneel
Johan Bruyneel is a former road bicycle racer in professional cycling and a directeur sportif for UCI ProTour team . Retiring from racing in 1998, he became director of , a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team...
signed on to become the directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
and revamp the embattled ; joining him are 2007 Tour de France
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...
champion Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
and 2007 Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
. Other major signings included American George Hincapie
George Hincapie
George Hincapié Garcés is an American professional road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam . Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina...
moving to and Daniele Bennati
Daniele Bennati
Daniele Bennati is an Italian road racing cyclist specializing in fast sprint finishes. He currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He turned professional in 2002, when he joined the team and wore zebra stripes as part of Mario Cipollini’s leadout train...
from to , while Giro d'Italia
2008 Giro d'Italia
The 2008 Giro d'Italia was the 91st running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Palermo on 10 May and ended in Milan on 1 June. Twenty-two teams entered the race, which was won by Spaniard Alberto Contador of the cycling team...
winner Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...
left Liguigas for the UCI Professional Continental team .
2008 UCI ProTour races
As of September 28, 2008.| Dates | Race | Winner | ProTour leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22–27 January |  Australia Tour Down Under2008 Tour Down Under The 2008 Tour Down Under was the 10th edition of the Tour Down Under cycling stage race, taking place from 22 to 27 January around Adelaide, Australia. The Tour Down Under was the first race outside of Europe to be given ProTour status by the UCI.... |
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| 6 April |  Belgium Ronde van Vlaanderen2008 Ronde van Vlaanderen The 2008 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 92nd edition of this monumental classic and took place on April 6. The course was 264 km long and went from Brugge to Meerbeke.... |
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| 7–12 April |  Spain Vuelta al País Vasco2008 Vuelta al País Vasco The 2008 Vuelta al País Vasco, the 65th edition of the Vuelta al País Vasco stage cycling race, took place from April 7 to April 12, 2008. It was won by Spanish rider Alberto Contador of .-General classification:... |
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| 9 April | Belgium Gent–Wevelgem |
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| 20 April |  Netherlands Amstel Gold Race2008 Amstel Gold Race The 2008 Amstel Gold Race is the 43rd edition of the Amstel Gold Race classic cycle race and took place on April 20, 2008. It was held on a course from Maastricht to Cauberg as the fifth event of the 2008 UCI ProTour. Italian rider Damiano Cunego of won the event after sprinting past Luxembourger... |
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| 29 April–4 May |  Switzerland Tour de Romandie |
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| 19–25 May | Spain Volta a Catalunya 2008 Volta a Catalunya The 2008 Volta a Catalunya road cycling race took place from May 19 to May 25, 2008 in Catalonia, Spain. Gustavo César took overall victory, becoming first rider of non-ProTour team to win a ProTour race general classification.... |
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| 8–15 June |  France Dauphiné Libéré |
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| 14–22 June | Switzerland Tour de Suisse |
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| 2 August | Spain Clásica de San Sebastián 2008 Clásica de San Sebastián The 2008 Clásica de San Sebastián, the 28th edition of the Clásica de San Sebastián road cycling race took place on August 2, 2008 in Spain and was won by Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of in a sprint finish on the Donostia avenue. He held off Russian Alexandr Kolobnev of Team CSC Saxo Bank and... |
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| 20–27 August | Belgium / Netherlands Eneco Tour of Benelux 2008 Eneco Tour of Benelux The 2008 Eneco Tour of Benelux cycling road race takes place from August 20 to August 27, 2008 in the Benelux. Like the previous years, parts of the Netherlands and Belgium are covered... |
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| 25 August | France GP Ouest-France 2008 GP Ouest-France The 2008 GP Ouest-France cycling road race took place on August 25, 2008 in France and was won by Pierrick Fédrigo of .-Results:-External links:2008 in Road Cycling... |
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| 29 August– 6 September |
 Germany Deutschland Tour2008 Deutschland Tour The 2008 Deutschland Tour road cycling race took place from August 29 to September 6, 2008 in Germany and Austria. It was won by Team Columbia's Linus Gerdemann of Germany... |
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| 7 September | Germany Vattenfall Cyclassics 2008 Vattenfall Cyclassics The 2008 Vattenfall Cyclassics road cycling race took place on September 7, 2008 in Hamburg, Germany and saw an all-Australian podium with Robbie McEwen of beating Mark Renshaw of and Allan Davis of .-Results:-See also:* 2008 in Road Cycling... |
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| 15–21 September |  Poland Tour de Pologne |
Teams
As of 6 December 6, 2007Unibet.com Cycling Team
Unibet.com Cycling Team
Cycle Collstrop was a Swedish UCI Professional Continental cycling team. It was the successor to Unibet.com, which was mainly sponsored by the online gambling website Unibet.com and as a continuation of the MrBookmaker.com cycling team...
, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application renewal by the November 20, 2007 deadline.
Individual standings
| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 123 | ||
| 2 | 104 | ||
| 3 | 96 | ||
| 4 | 94 | ||
| 5 | 85 | ||
| 6 | 62 | ||
| 7 | 60 | ||
| 8 | 58 | ||
| 9 | 54 | ||
| 10 | 50 | ||
- 107 riders have scored at least one point on the 2008 UCI ProTour.
Team standings
| Rank | Team | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 147 | ||
| 2 | 145 | ||
| 3 | 126 | ||
| 4 | 114 | ||
| 5 | 111 | ||
| 6 | 109 | ||
| 7 | 108 | ||
| 8 | 107 | ||
| 9 | 105 | ||
| 10 | 102 | ||
| 11 | 102 | ||
| 12 | 95 | ||
| 13 | 76 | ||
| 14 | 94 | ||
| 15 | 93 | ||
| 16 | 73 | ||
| 17 | 63 | ||
| 18 | 54 |
Nation standings
| Rank | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 336 | |
| 2 | 237 | |
| 3 | 198 | |
| 4 | 155 | |
| 5 | 147 | |
| 6 | 113 | |
| 7 | 94 | |
| 8 | 94 | |
| 9 | 80 | |
| 10 | 86 | |
- Riders from 23 nations have scored at least one (1) point on the 2008 UCI ProTour.
2008 ProTour Points System
| Place | Tour Down Under Ronde van Vlaanderen Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco Tour de Romandie Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré Tour de Suisse Deutschland Tour Eneco Tour Tour de Pologne |
Gent–Wevelgem Amstel Gold Race Vattenfall Cyclassics Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian GP Quest France-Plouay |
Eindhoven Team Time Trial | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Classification | |||||
| 1st | 50 | 40 | 10 | ||
| 2nd | 40 | 30 | 9 | ||
| 3rd | 35 | 25 | 8 | ||
| 4th | 30 | 20 | 7 | ||
| 5th | 25 | 15 | 6 | ||
| 6th | 20 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 7th | 15 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 8th | 10 | 5 | 3 | ||
| 9th | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 10th | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Stage wins (if applicable) | |||||
| 1st | 3 | ||||
| 2nd | 2 | ||||
| 3rd | 1 | ||||
- If a rider is not part of UCI ProTourUCI ProTourThe UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
, no points are given. The points corresponding to the place are not awarded - Top 20 teams get points in scale 20-19-18...1.
- Team time trials in stage races doesn't give points for riders.
- In Eindhoven time trial rider has to finish to earn points.
- In country ranking, top 5 riders of each country count towards the ranking.