The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

tour, sitting above the

UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road cycling tour. It was inaugurated in 2020. The series is placed below the UCI World Tour, but above the various regional UCI Continental Circuits. Development In December 2018, the UCI announ ...

and various regional

UCI Continental Circuits The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon performances in these. The World Ranking was launched in 2009, and merged fully with its predecessor the

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...

in 2011.

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

s must compete at all events that were part of the tour prior to the 2017 expansion.

History

Until the end of 2004, the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI) maintained both the

UCI Road World Rankings The UCI Road World Rankings was a men's system of ranking road bicycle racers based upon the results in all UCI-sanctioned races over a twelve-month period. The world rankings were first instituted by the UCI in 1984. Ranking Sean Kelly of Irel ...

, which awarded results for all its sanctioned races, and the

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. History The competition was inaugurated in 1989, and replaced the Super Prestige Pernod International. In the first ...

, which was awarded on the basis of performance in ten selected one-day events. Both were replaced from the 2005 season by the

and

. However, disputes between the UCI and ASO, the organisers of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

and other classics, and eventually with the organisers of the Tours of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, meant that by 2008 the ProTour was devalued as a ranking method, as only one of the

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

events, and three other

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, remained under the auspices of the UCI. As a result, the UCI World Ranking was introduced, merging performances from both the ProTour and other prestigious events. At the start of 2011, the ProTour and World Ranking were fully merged again. The ranking system was re-branded as the 'World Tour', whilst 'ProTeam' was retained as a registration category for professional teams. All ProTeams gain automatic entry to World Tour events. Despite finishing second in the team rankings in 2012, were initially refused a place in the top tier for 2013. After appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

, they were reinstated in February 2013, having already missed the

2013 Tour Down Under The 2013 Santos Tour Down Under was the 15th edition of the Tour Down Under stage race. It took place from 22 to 27 January in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and was the first race of the 2013 UCI World Tour. The race was won by Dutch rid ...

. Although the UCI had earlier asserted that the reinstatement of Katusha would result in demotion of another team, they eventually announced that there would be 19 ProTour teams for that one season. In 2015, there are only 17 teams, as there was no applicant for the 18th slot. For the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

season the UCI added 10 new events to the calendar, bringing the total number of events to 38. The new events are:

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the ...

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

Abu Dhabi Tour The Abu Dhabi Tour was a men's cycling stage race that took place in the United Arab Emirates, held annually between 2015 and 2018. In 2019 The Abu Dhabi Tour merged with the Dubai Tour to become the UAE Tour. History When inaugurated, it was p ...

Tour of Turkey The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey ( tr, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Bisiklet Turu) is a professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Turkey since 1963. In 2005 the race became part of the UCI Europe Tour, rated as a 2.2 even ...

Dwars door Vlaanderen Dwars door Vlaanderen ''( en, Across Flanders)'' is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI ...

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and ...

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also known as Great Ocean Road Race or Cadel Road Race is an annual professional one-day road bicycle racing for both men and women starting and finishing in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and routed along th ...

London–Surrey Classic The London–Surrey Classic (also known as the RideLondon–Surrey Classic) was an annual men's professional one-day road cycling race, starting and finishing in London and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills. The first race of its kind wa ...

, Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop and

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

. In 2019, the

Three Days of De Panne 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

(a one-day race, although its name retains a description of its former format) was added to the tour, and the Abu Dhabi Tour, having merged with the 2.HC ranked

Dubai Tour The Dubai Tour is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Dubai, which began in 2014 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. History The race was classified as a 2.1. in 2014. The race is organized by the Dubai Sports Council in partn ...

, was rebranded as the

UAE Tour The UAE Tour ( ar, جولة الإمارات) is a road cycling stage race in the United Arab Emirates. It was first held in 2019 as part of the UCI World Tour. It was created as a result of the merging of the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. ...

. The World Tour ceased to be a ranking series, replaced in this regard by the

UCI World Ranking The UCI men's road racing world rankings are a point system which is used to rank men's road cycling riders. Points are accrued over a rolling 52 weeks in three categories (Individual, Nations and Teams). Also Year-End rankings exist, based on ...

Events (since 2019)

The UCI World Tour consists of 38 events. These events are made up from: * The three

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

s * The five

one-day races * Ten further

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

s in Europe * Thirteen further one-day races in Europe * One stage race in Australia * One stage race in United Arab Emirates * One stage race in China * One one-day race in Australia * Two one-day races in Canada In 2009 and 2010, only riders for

ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ea ...

teams and Professional Continental teams could earn points. When a national squad, that is not a UCI registered team, participated in a race, its members were not eligible to receive points. In 2011, a rule change meant that only riders on ProTeam squads were eligible for points. From 2012 to 2015, the

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ( ...

at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

contributed points to the team classification only.

Results

Individual ranking (2009–2018)

Team ranking (2009–2018)

Nation ranking (2009–2016)

Winners by race

Winners (2009–2016)

Winners after expansion (since 2017)

Most race wins

''Riders in italics are no longer active.''

Race wins by country

Race wins by team

''Teams in italics are no longer active.''

UCI WorldTeams

Current UCI WorldTeams (2023 season)

Previous UCI WorldTeams

''Teams in italics are no longer active.''

Notes

References

External links

UCI WorldTour
{{Road bicycle racing Men's road cycling Recurring sporting events established in 2009 World Tour