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Pro cycling MVPs: Which team duos scored the most points in the men’s WorldTour?
The UCI points system means WorldTour teams aren’t safe at the highest level of professional racing. They have to earn their right over a three-year cycle that results in relegation and the promotion of ProTour teams based on their points tally.
Every race has points depending on its classification. Some prizes make sense – the Tour de France offers 1,300 points for the winner of the yellow jersey, while some can cause confusion – a 5th place at San Sebastian Klasikoa is the same as a Giro d’Italia stage win.
As the 2024 season is all but over, we’ve tallied up the points of the top two riders in each men’s WorldTour team to see who the MVPs are according to the UCI rankings.
- 18. 2,184 points – Alberto Bettiol and Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan)
- 17. 2,406 points – Luca Mozzato and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
- 16. 2,494.71 points – Axel Zingle and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis)
- 15. 3,024 points – Romain Bardet and Oscar Onley (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL)
- 14. 3,148.29 points – Antonio Tiberi and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
13. Richard Carapaz and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost): 3,380 points
EF Education-EasyPost‘s Duracell bunnies Richard Carapaz and Ben Healy were lighting up the Vuelta a España, where Carapaz placed fourth overall for 600 points. He had a remarkable final week at the Tour de France too, riding his way into the mountains jersey and winning Stage 17 for 420 points combined.
Healy has one win this season at the Tour of Slovenia but his most points in a one-day race come from seventh place in the World Championship Road Race (265 points) and tenth place at the Olympics (150 points).
- Richard Carapaz: 2,404 points
- Ben Healy: 976 points
12. Michael Matthews and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla): 3,390.42 points
There were smiles as far as the eye could see when Michael Matthews dug deep to claim a strong second place at Milan-San Remo this season, which brought home 640 points for Jayco-AlUla. His recent victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec added another big haul with 500 points.
Dylan Groenewegen’s big scorer came at the Tour de France. The Dutchman won Stage 6 to Dijon and bagged 210 points. He secured another 100 points by reclaiming his Dutch Road Race Championship. That’s also equivalent to ninth place at Gent-Wevelgem.
- Michael Matthews: 1948.71 points
- Dylan Groenewegen: 1441.71 points
11. Stefan Küng and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ): 3,575 points
What’s worth more, a fifth place at Paris-Roubaix or winning your first Grand Tour stage? According to UCI’s ranking, there’s quite a gap. Stefan Küng’s result on the cobbles of France gave him the most points all season (360), while his priceless maiden victory at the Vuelta a España was worth 180. His seventh place in the Olympic Road Race was his second-best points haul of the season, adding a whopping 265 added to his total.
As for Valentin Madouas, the Frenchman took a spectacular silver medal at his home Games. This is understandably the bulk of his points tally, with 715 given. Consistent top tens in the Classics also helped him reach second place on Groupama-FDJ‘s rankings, with sixth at Amstel Gold Race (175) and seventh for Liège-Bastogne-Liège (240). Although he also has the most sanctions on this list, with 40 points taken away for in-race misdemeanours.
- Stefan Küng: 2,002 points
- Valentin Madouas: 1,553 points
10. Enric Mas and Alex Aranburu (Movistar): 4,334 points
Even though he is winless this season, Enric Mas leads the way for Movistar thanks to his strong performance at the Vuelta a España with his fourth overall podium in the race.
Spanish Road Race Champion Alex Aranburu has two wins that scored UCI points this season, that national title and a victory at the Belgium Tour. However, his highest-scoring points come from second places at Eschborn-Frankfurt and Grand Prix de Wallonie.
- Enric Mas: 2,851 points
- Alex Aranburu: 1,483 points
9. Biniam Girmay and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché–Wanty): 4,357 points
At his history-making Tour de France, Biniam Girmay won three stages and the points jersey, helping him rocket to ninth place in the UCI rankings. Despite this, his highest points awarded actually come from a second place at GP du Quebec (400) and a third place at the BEMER Cyclassics. Go figure.
Teammate Gerben Thijssen was also at the Tour with Girmay helping him to his stage wins. He bookended his season with his biggest points scorers, winning the Trofeo Palma for 125 in January and racing to second place at the GP de Fourmies for 150 last month.
- Biniam Girmay: 3,352 points
- Gerben Thijssen: 1,005 points
8. Carlos Rodríguez and Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers): 4,430.86 points
Ineos Grenadiers are a team going through a lacklustre season by their own standards. 23-year-old Carlos Rodríguez is their top rider on the UCI points ranking, just cracking the top 20 overall with 2,290.86 points after winning the Tour de Romandie, finishing second at Itzulia Basque Country and a decent seventh place overall in the Tour de France.
The decimal point comes from the 2.86 awarded to Ineos Grenadiers riders during the Stage 3 individual time-trial at Paris-Nice, where the squad placed fifth.
Close behind is Ecuadorian Road Race Champion Jhonatan Narváez on 2,140. There’s a big jump at the top end of his points, with 400 from finishing second at the Tour Down Under followed by 180 as a result of his Giro d’Italia escape on Stage 1 for the first maglia rosa. This somehow gave him the same number of points as a fifth place finish at San Sebastian Klasikoa.
- Carlos Rodríguez: 2,290.86 points
- Jhonatan Narváez: 2,140 points
7. Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek): 5,213 points
Mads Pedersen’s only victory in the Classics this year was Gent-Wevelgem, but it wasn’t his highest point-scoring result. In fact it was 20 points lower than the 520 he was awarded for third place at Paris-Roubaix. Overall victories at Étoile de Bessèges, Tour de La Provence and the Deutschland Tour helped him climb to top spot on the Lidl-Trek squad with 2,723 points.
It was tight between Pedersen and Jonathan Milan however. A prosperous Giro d’Italia in which Milan won three stages and finished second on four occasions gave him over 1,000 points in a matter of three weeks. By the end of the season, Milan racked up 2,490 points.
- Mads Pedersen: 2,723 points
- Jonathan Milan: 2,490 points
6. Primož Roglič and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): 5,544 points
Two thirds of Primož Roglič’s points came from the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Vuelta a España, with both overall wins plus three stages at the Vuelta along with second in the points classification and second on Stage 21 for a grand total of 2,400.
While some on this list might not typically race together, Aleksandr Vlasov was a key domestique for Roglič at the Vuelta, Paris-Nice and the Tour de France. Vlasov has one victory this year at Paris-Nice and finished second overall the Tour de Romandie. Aside from that, most of his 2,073 points come from high placings on Vuelta stages and finishing third overall at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
- Primož Roglič: 3,471 points
- Aleksandr Vlasov: 2,073 points
5. Ben O’Connor and Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale): 5,720 points
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale have a lack of brown bibs and Ben O’Connor to thank for these points, as over 4,000 of them came from the Aussie. That was mostly from his captivating Vuelta a España, in which he finished second overall, as well as his second place in the World Championships Road Race, but also finishing just off the overall podium at the Giro d’Italia didn’t do any harm to his total.
O’Connor is moving to Jayco-AlUla next season, so the team will have to find point hunters elsewhere. There’s a large gap between first and second on the squad, with Benoît Cosnefroy sitting behind with 1,624. The Frenchman had a decent Classics run, fourth at La Flèche Wallonne and sixth at Strade Bianche bringing in the most points. His win at Brabantse Pijl got him 200, as did victory at the, uh [checks notes], GP du Morbihan.
- Ben O’Connor: 4,096 points
- Benoit Cosnefroy: 1,624 points
4. Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike): 6,461 points
The killer bees’ points largely come from the exploits of Jonas Vingegaard, who dominated stage race O Gran Camiño before winning Tirreno-Adriatico early in the season. He finished second at the Tour de France, which got him over 1,000 UCI points.
Wout van Aert is still second for Visma-Lease a Bike despite the horrible crash at the Dwars door Vlaanderen that kept him out of the remainder of the Classics season and a race-ending crash at the Vuelta a España while leading both the points and mountain classifications.
His biggest points-scoring escapades this season comes from third places in the Olympic Games ITT, the E3 Saxo Classic and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as opposed to his victory at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne or stage wins at the Vuelta. He finished just shy of 3,000 points.
- Jonas Vingegaard: 3,536 points
- Wout van Aert: 2,925 points
3. Remco Evenepoel and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep): 8,479.57 points
Remco Evenepoel and Tim Merlier comfortably earned their place on this podium. Evenepoel is way out in front for Soudal-QuickStep, his Olympic double helping surpass his trade teammates in the UCI rankings with 6,072.57 points. An overall podium at the Tour de France and second place at Il Lombardia certainly helped too.
The decimal point is due to the Soudal-QuickStep team finishing fourth in the Stage 3 team time-trial at Paris-Nice, where all were awarded 3.57 points.
Tim Merlier meanwhile has racked up 16 victories this year for 2,407 points as the sprinter to beat. He wasted no time early on, hitting the ground running with stage wins at the UAE Tour and AlUla Tour, followed by three stages at the Giro d’Italia. It’s his victories in the European Championship Road Race, Nokere Koerse and Scheldeprijs – the sprinter’s Classic – that have racked up the most points for him.
His win against Dutchman Olav Kooij at the European Championships gave him the same number of points (250) as a second place against Jasper Philipsen in the Classic Brugge-De Panne. Make of that what you will.
- Remco Evenepoel: 6,072.57 points
- Tim Merlier: 2,407 points
2. Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck): 8,843 points
Jasper Philipsen has nine victories to sprint rival Tim Merlier’s 16 this year but has acquired more UCI points for his team largely as a result of winning Milan-San Remo (800) and finishing second at Paris-Roubaix (640). He raced to victory in three stages of the Tour de France too and therefore sits comfortably third overall in the UCI standings.
Former World Champion Mathieu van der Poel led home that Alpecin-Deceuninck 1-2 at Paris-Roubaix for the second year running and was the perfect leadout for Philipsen on Stage 10 of the Tour de France. Van der Poel also won the Tour of Flanders, with 800 points to boost his total from that making it 1,600 in Holy Week alone. Finishing first at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and second at Gent-Wevelgem both yielded 400 points.
- Jasper Philipsen: 4,790 points
- Mathieu van der Poel: 4,053 points
1. Tadej Pogačar and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates): 15,273 points
Tadej Pogačar‘s points total this season wouldn’t be out of place on a Sainsbury’s Nectar card, a whopping 11,655. Bolstered by his historic Triple Crown of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championship Road Race, the Slovenian tops the UCI standings by over 5,500 points from Evenepoel – the equivalent of four overall Tour victories. In fact, his tally on its own is still far greater than any other combination of riders in this list.
Marc Hirschi was UAE’s second best points scorer, finishing sixth overall in the points standings, just ahead of Jonas Vingegaard. Hirschi enjoyed a fruitful couple of months that began with his overall victory at the Czech Tour in July and included five consecutive wins at the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa, the Bretagne Classic, GP Industria & Artigianato, Coppa Sabatini and Memorial Pantani.
The wins at San Sebastián and the Bretagne Classic gave 400 points each, equivalent to his second place at the Amstel Gold Race earlier in the season.
- Tadej Pogačar: 11,655 points
- Marc Hirschi: 3,618 points
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