UCI Press Release. With just a month of racing remaining in the 2011 UCI Europe Tour, Italy’s Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini –Neri Sottoli) is on track to win the individual ranking for a third consecutive season.
Visconti has again dominated the ranking this season thanks to his consistency and ability in both one-day races and short stage races. He has a fast finish in a sprint and can also climb and time trial well. He has again shown his ability by winning the Italian national title.
In September, Visconti added further points to his total with a stage victory at the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, second place overall at the Giro di Padania and several stage placings. In a busy month of racing, he also rode the UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen as part of the Italian team. He now has a total of 636 points, 85 more than in August. He is targeting success in the end of season Giro di Lombardia and so will surely pick up other points in races as he builds for his big final goal.
Visconti’s biggest rival in the individual ranking is now Yauheni Hutarovich, of Belarus, who has 574.25 points. The FDJ rider has risen up the ranking from fourth to second after picking up a haul of points. He was sixth in the GP de Fourmies / La Voix du Nord, fifth in the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen and sixth in the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen.
Hutarovich has moved past Italian veteran Davide Rebellin (Miche- Guerciotti), who slipped to third. He finished third in the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda by Bergamasca and fifth in the Giro di Padania but could not stop Hutarovich’s end of season charge. France’s Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) also lost ground. He has become an idol in France after his heroic performance in the Tour de France but has struggled to score UCI Europe Tour points in recent months. As a result he’s slipped from second to fourth and now has 488 points.
FDJ and Italy lead the teams and nations rankings
The FDJ team still leads the teams ranking and seems to have the prestigious title wrapped up thanks to a massive points total of 2463.1.
Recently the Skil-Shimano and Colnago-CSF Inox teams have moved past the other French teams but both are still more than a thousand points behind FDJ. Skil-Shimano has 1431 points, with Colnago-CSF Inox in a close third place with 1407 points. Saur-Sojasun has slipped to fourth with 1369.75 and Cofidis is fifth with 1330 points. All four teams will be fighting for the final places behind FDJ.
Italy has a similar lead in the nations ranking thanks to its strength in depth across the European calendar.
Italian riders have scored a total of 3782.2 points so far in the 2011 season, giving Italy a 700 points lead over France (3087.2), followed by the Netherlands (2076.34), Germany (1948) and Belgium (1654.2).
The 2011 Europe Tour ends on October 16 with the Chrono des Nations time trial. Before then there are significant points up for grabs at the Giro dell’Emilia in Italy on Saturday October 8, the so-called sprinter’s classic Paris-Tours on Sunday October 9 and then the Giro del Piemonte in Italy on October 13.
Photo: Giovanni Visconti
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