The 2016 UCI World Tour was a competition that included 27 road cycling events throughout the 2016 men's cycling season. It was the eighth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition started with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 19 January, and concluded with Il Lombardia on 1 October. Spain's Alejandro Valverde was the two-times defending champion.
Valverde was unable to defend his title, as he finished fourth in the individual rankings. The title was won for the first time by Slovakian rider Peter Sagan for the team, scoring 669 points over the course of the season. This included victories at Gent–Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. Second place went to Valverde's team-mate Nairo Quintana, 60 points behind Sagan; Quintana also won three races overall: the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour de Romandie and the season's final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España. Third place in the individual rankings went to Chris Froome (), 45 points behind Quintana and 105 in arrears of Sagan. Froome took two wins on French soil during the World Tour campaign, winning the Critérium du Dauphiné as well as the Tour de France.
Two other sub-classifications were also contested. In the teams' rankings, finished top for the fourth year running, with a total of 1471 points. Second place went to , 110 points behind, while finished in third position. The nations' rankings was headed by Spain, with a points advantage of 29 over Colombia, with Great Britain over 400 points adrift of Spain in third place.
Teams
Professional cycling teams were divided into several tiers: the top teams were UCI WorldTeams and were automatically entitled and obliged to enter all World Tour races. The organisers of each race were also permitted to invite other teams – generally UCI Professional Continental teams – to compete alongside the WorldTeams. The UCI selected the teams based on sporting, ethical, financial and administrative criteria. The number of WorldTeams was limited to 18. In October 2015, 17 teams were granted WorldTeam status by the UCI; these were the same teams that competed in the 2015 UCI World Tour. In November, the final WorldTeam licence was awarded to , which had previously competed at Professional Continental level as . There were therefore a total of 18 teams selected for the 2016 World Tour.
As well as the addition of Team Dimension Data, there were two other changes to the team names for the 2016 season. The team that in 2015 had competed as lost Saxo Bank as a sponsor and therefore became , while became , although Garmin remained a sponsor of the team. later became and became as a result of mid-season sponsorship agreements.
+ 2016 UCI World Teams and equipment Code Official Team Name Country Groupset Road Bike(s) Time Trial Bike Wheels ALM (2016 season) SRAM Focus Izalco MaxFocus Cayo Focus Izalco Chrono Zipp AST (2016 season) Campagnolo Specialized VengeS-Works TarmacSpecialized Roubaix Specialized Shiv Corima BMC (2016 season) Shimano BMC Teammachine SLR01 BMC Timemachine TMR01BMC Granfondo GF01 BMC TimeMachine TM01 Shimano CPT (2016 season) Shimano Cannondale SuperSix EVO Cannondale Synapse Cannondale Slice Mavic DDD (2016 season) Shimano/Rotor Cervelo S5 Cervelo R5Cervelo C5 Cervelo P5 Enve EQS (2016 season) ShimanoFSA Specialized VengeS-Works TarmacSpecialized Roubaix Specialized Shiv Shimano FDJ (2016 season) Shimano Lapierre Xelius SLLapierre AircodeSLLapierre Pulsium Lapierre Aerostorm Shimano IAM (2016 season) Shimano Scott FoilScott AddictScott Solace Scott Plasma LAM (2016 season) Shimano Rotor Merida Reacto Evo Merida SculturaMerida Ride Merida Warp Fulcrum LTS (2016 season) Campagnolo Ridley Helium SL Ridley Noah SLRidley Fenix SL Ridley Dean Fast Campagnolo MOV (2016 season) Campagnolo Canyon Ultimate CF SLXCanyon Aeroad CF SLXCanyon Endurance CF SL Canyon Speedmax CF Campagnolo OGE (2016 season) Shimano Scott FoilScott AddictScott Solace Scott Plasma Shimano TGA (2016 season) Shimano Giant TCR Advanced SLGiant Propel Advanced SLGiant Defy Advanced SL Giant Trinity Shimano KAT (2016 season) SRAM Canyon Ultimate CF SLXCanyon Aeroad CF SLXCanyon Endurance CF SL Canyon Speedmax CF Zipp TLJ (2016 season) Shimano Bianchi OltreXR2Bianchi SpecialissimaBianchi Infinito CV Bianchi Aquila CV Shimano SKY (2016 season) Shimano Pinarello Dogma F8Pinarello Dogma K8-SPinarello Dogma K8 Pinarello Bolide Shimano TNK (2016 season) Shimano Specialized VengeS-Works TarmacSpecialized Roubaix Specialized Shiv Roval TFS (2016 season) Shimano Trek EmondaTrek MadoneTrek Domane Trek SpeedConcept Bontrager
Events All events from the 2015 UCI World Tour were included, although some events were scheduled on different dates than previous editions. For the 2016 season UCI put forward a new ranking system to run alongside the normal WorldTour rankings. The new World Rankings ran over a 52-week period like the ATP and WTA rankings in tennis.
The team time trial at the UCI World Championships, scheduled to be held on 9 October, had been due to award points towards the team rankings. In August 2016, the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP) approved a motion for all UCI WorldTeams to boycott the time trial event, due to the UCI insisting that WorldTeams should compete in the event as a requirement of granting a WorldTeam licence without providing a participation allowance to teams, as is the case with other UCI World Tour races. It was reported that the UCI Professional Continental teams attending the AIGCP General Assembly also supported the motion. The UCI expressed disappointment with the move and stated that it "continued to expect excellent participation in this year's UCI Road World Championships Team Time Trial". However a month later, it was announced that WorldTeams would compete in the event, although not compulsory, and no points would be awarded towards the World Tour rankings.
+ Races in the 2016 UCI World Tour Race Date Winner Second Third Other points(4th place onwards) Stage points Tour Down Under 19–24 January100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Paris–Nice 6–13 March100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Tirreno–Adriatico 9–15 March100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Milan–San Remo19 March100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 4 N/A Volta a Catalunya 21–27 March100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 E3 Harelbeke25 March80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A Gent–Wevelgem27 March80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A Tour of Flanders3 April100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 4 N/A Tour of the Basque Country 4–9 April100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Paris–Roubaix10 April100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 4 N/A Amstel Gold Race17 April0 pts60 pts0 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A La Flèche Wallonne20 April80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A Liège–Bastogne–Liège24 April100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 4 N/A Tour de Romandie26 April – 1 May100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Giro d'Italia 6–29 May170 pts130 pts100 pts90, 80, 70, 60, 52, 44, 38, 32, 26, 22, 18, 14, 10, 8, 6, 4, 216, 8, 4, 2, 1 Critérium du Dauphiné 5–12 June100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Tour de Suisse 11–19 June100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Tour de France 2–24 July200 pts150 pts120 pts110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 24, 20, 16, 12, 10, 8, 6, 420, 10, 6, 4, 2 Tour de Pologne 12–18 July100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Clásica de San Sebastián30 July80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A Vuelta a España20 August – 11 September170 pts130 pts100 pts90, 80, 70, 60, 52, 44, 38, 32, 26, 22, 18, 14, 10, 8, 6, 4, 216, 8, 4, 2, 1 EuroEyes Cyclassics21 August80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A GP Ouest-France28 August80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A GP de Québec9 September80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A GP de Montréal11 September80 pts60 pts50 pts40, 30, 22, 14, 10, 6, 2 N/A / Eneco Tour 19–25 September100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 46, 4, 2, 1, 1 Il Lombardia1 October100 pts80 pts70 pts60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 4 N/A Notes
Final points standings
Individual
Riders tied with the same number of points were classified by number of victories, then number of second places, third places, and so on, in World Tour events and stages.
RankNameTeamPoints16692609356444365428642073948374935110280112701224113239142341522916211172061820119194201852118422176231622416025154 235 riders scored points. 34 other riders finished in positions that would have earned them points, but they were ineligible as they were not members of a WorldTeam.
Team
Team rankings were calculated by adding the ranking points of the top five riders of a team in the table.
RankTeamPointsTop 5 riders11471N. Quintana (609), Valverde (436), I. Izagirre (270), Fernández (88), Amador (68)21361P. Sagan (669), Contador (428), Majka (110), Kreuziger (86), McCarthy (68)31187Froome (564), Ser. Henao (234), Poels (148), Thomas (121), Stannard (120)41128Van Avermaet (420), Porte (394), S. Sánchez (130), van Garderen (104), Atapuma (80)5909Chaves (351), Matthews (184), A. Yates (144), Gerrans (119), Ewan (111)6789Zakarin (239), Kristoff (229), Rodríguez (211), Špilak (60), Kuznetsov (50)7775D. Martin (280), Jungels (153), Alaphilippe (146), Terpstra (108), Štybar (88)8616Bettiol (185), Urán (137), Talansky (132), Formolo (108), Villella (54)9565Cancellara (176), Mollema (160), Felline (108), Nizzolo (90), Stuyven (31)10539Nibali (241), Rosa (110), M. López (109), Scarponi (43), Aru (36)11516Pinot (206), Démare (154), Reichenbach (84), Roux (56), Geniez (16)12506Vanmarcke (201), Kruijswijk (118), Kelderman (74), Gesink (59), van Emden (54)13482Bardet (374), Pozzovivo (32), Dupont (32), Latour (22), Péraud (22)14463Wellens (130), Greipel (92), Roelandts (90), Gallopin (85), Benoot (66)15442R. Costa (194), Ulissi (129), Meintjes (85), Modolo (18), Conti (16)16435T. Dumoulin (149), Barguil (144), Degenkolb (98), Arndt (38), T. Ludvigsson (6)17418Naesen (162), Pantano (115), Haussler (72), Frank (39), Warbasse (30)18290Cavendish (80), Boasson Hagen (79), Haas (53), Sivtsov (40), Cummings (38)
Nation
National rankings were calculated by adding the ranking points of the top five riders registered in a nation in the table. The national rankings were also used to determine how many riders a country could have in the World Championships.
RankNationPointsTop 5 riders (if applicable)11475Valverde (436), Contador (428), I. Izagirre (270), Rodríguez (211), S. Sánchez (130)21446N. Quintana (609), Chaves (351), Ser. Henao (234), Urán (137), Pantano (115)31050Froome (564), A. Yates (144), Thomas (121), Stannard (120), S. Yates (101)41024Bardet (374), Pinot (206), Démare (154), Alaphilippe (146), Barguil (144)51003Van Avermaet (420), Vanmarcke (201), Naesen (162), Wellens (130), Roelandts (90)6908Porte (394), Matthews (184), Gerrans (119), Ewan (111), Hayman (100)7773Nibali (241), Bettiol (185), Ulissi (129), Rosa (110), Felline (108)8683Mollema (160), T. Dumoulin (149), Poels (148), Kruijswijk (118), Terpstra (108)9669P. Sagan (669)10416Cancellara (176), Albasini (106), Reichenbach (84), Frank (39), Morabito (11)11343Kristoff (229), Boasson Hagen (79), Holst Enger (16), Hoelgaard (14), Stake Laengen (5)12339Degenkolb (98), Greipel (92), Kittel (81), Arndt (38), Sieberg (30)13336Zakarin (239), Kuznetsov (50), Lagutin (20), Silin (18), Tsatevich (9)14286D. Martin (280), Roche (6)15280Talansky (132), van Garderen (104), Warbasse (30), Craddock (10), Dombrowski (4)
Riders from 35 nations scored points.
Leader progress