Today, Tadej reached a new milestone on the UCI rankings, having been the world number one in road cycling for a total of 200 weeks. On the latest rankings, Tadej still holds a record 13,650 points, which he achieved a week ago, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step) in 2nd place with 5,962 points, followed by Primož Roglič (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) in 3rd place with 3,870 points. In the team competition, Tadej’s team UAE Team Emirates – XRG is far ahead of everyone, having collected 13,824 points, with second-placed Lidl Trek having 9,311 points, and third Visma Lease a Bike with 7,563. In the nations competition, Belgium (21,411) leads ahead of Slovenia (19,192) and Italy (14,512).
Tadej first took 1st place on the UCI rankings on October 27, 2020, and after two weeks, he handed it back to Roglič. He was then at the top for eight weeks from July 20 to September 7, 2021, when Wout van Aert briefly overtook him. Tadej became number one again on September 28, 2021, and he still holds thet position after 190 consecutive weeks at the top of the cycling world.
He is by far the record holder for the time he has spent at the top of the rankings, which were introduced in their current form in January 2016. On the all-time list, Roglič is in 2nd place with 75 weeks at the top, and Peter Sagan is third with 69 weeks.
At the end of the Giro, Tadej will lose all the points he won with last year’s victory in Rome, but this will not threaten his lead. After altitude training in Sierra Nevada and the recon of the key stages of the Tour route, he will aim to win new points for the UCI rankings from June 8 to 15 at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the dress rehearsal for the Tour de France.