Martin moves closer to WorldTour lead, now sits in career-best third overall

Further boost for Garmin-Sharp rider

Dan Martin has jumped to a career-best third overall in the UCI WorldTour rankings, moving up from seventh after his Liège-Bastogne-Liège success yesterday.

The Garmin Sharp rider became the first Irishman to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège since Sean Kelly triumphed in the 1989 edition. He is now inching closer to the number one slot, although Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard) is 104 points clear of him at the top.

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) stays second, 39 points adrift of Cancellara and 65 in front of Martin.

Neither of those two riders competed yesterday, with Cancellara taking a break after his Paris-Roubaix triumph and Sagan doing so after Flèche Wallonne.

Martin is also set to take some time away from competition, with yesterday’s Classic bringing the first part of his season to an end.

The 26 year old rider finished one place ahead of Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), bridging across to the Catalan inside the final kilometre and then attacking him at the top of the final climb.

The result sees him overtake Rodriguez by one point, bumping him down to fourth. Richie Porte (Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) each slip two places to fifth and sixth respectively.

The biggest movers in the top ten were Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who goes from 23rd to eighth, and Carlos Betancur (Ag2r La Mondiale), who improves from 20th to ninth.

Sky continue to lead the teams’ ranking ahead of Katusha and RadioShack Leopard. Movistar nudges ahead of Omega Pharma Quick Step for fourth, while Garmin-Sharp improves from ninth to sixth on the basis of the results of Martin and Ryder Hesjedal. The latter rode strongly for Martin yesterday and hung on to take eighth at the line.

As for the nations’ standings, Spain, Colombia and Belgium remain first to third, while Italy goes from seventh to fourth.

The next UCI WorldTour event is the Tour du Romandie, which begins tomorrow in Switzerland.

UCI WorldTour standings after Liège-Bastogne-Liège:

1 (1) CANCELLARA Fabian, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 351
2 (2) SAGAN Peter, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING (CAN) 312
3 (7) MARTIN Daniel, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 247
4 (5) RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin, KATUSHA (KAT) 246
5 (3) PORTE Richie, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 200
6 (4) QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 182
7 (6) HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 164
8 (23) VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 150
9 (20) BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 145
10 (8) CHAVANEL Sylvain, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 142
11 (9) VAN AVERMAET Greg, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 140
12 (10) KWIATKOWSKI Michal, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 131
13 (11) CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto, TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF (TST) 124
14 (27) SCARPONI Michele, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 121
15 (12) THOMAS Geraint, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 117
16 (13) SLAGTER Tom Jelte, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 111
17 (14) NIBALI Vincenzo, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 106
18 (15) SPILAK Simon, KATUSHA (KAT) 102
19 (16) TALANSKY Andrew, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 92
20 (17) KRISTOFF Alexander, KATUSHA (KAT) 90
21 (19) FROOME Christopher, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 86
22 (18) MORENO BAZAN Javier, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 86
23 (21) MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel, KATUSHA (KAT) 80
24 (22) KREUZIGER Roman, TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF (TST) 80
25 (24) VANMARCKE Sep, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 80
26 (30) GERRANS Simon, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 72
27 (25) LADAGNOUS Matthieu, FDJ (FDJ) 72
28 (26) PERAUD Jean-Christophe, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 71
29 (28) TERPSTRA Niki, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 70
30 (29) ROELANDTS Jurgen, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 70
31 (47) GILBERT Philippe, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 66
32 (31) LANGEVELD Sebastian, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 64
33 (32) VAN GARDEREN Tejay, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 62
34 (33) BOZIC Borut, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 61
35 (34) IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Jon, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 61
36 (35) PAOLINI Luca, KATUSHA (KAT) 60
37 (36) HERMANS Ben, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 52
38 (37) WIGGINS Bradley, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 51
39 (38) WEENING Pieter, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 51
40 (39) OSS Daniel, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 50
41 (40) FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 50
42 (75) GASPAROTTO Enrico, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 47
43 (41) HORNER Christopher, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 42
44 (42) GESINK Robert, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 41
45 (43) KELDERMAN Wilco, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 41
46 (44) STYBAR Zdenek, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 40
47 (45) STANNARD Ian, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 40
48 (46) NIEMIEC Przemyslaw, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 40
49 (48) ULISSI Diego, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 33
50 (49) IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 32
51 (50) PHINNEY Taylor, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 30
52 (51) AMADOR BAKKAZAKOVA Andrey, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 24
53 (52) WESTRA Lieuwe, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 22
54 (53) INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 22
55 (54) PINOT Thibaut, FDJ (FDJ) 21
56 (-) HESJEDAL Ryder, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 20
57 (55) PIETROPOLLI Daniele, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 20
58 (56) GREIPEL André, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 20
59 (57) EISEL Bernhard, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 18
60 (58) MEERSMAN Gianni, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 16
61 (59) CAVENDISH Mark, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 15
62 (60) LEUKEMANS Björn, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 14
63 (61) BOONEN Tom, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 14
64 (62) POELS Wouter, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 14
65 (63) MOLLEMA Bauke, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 12
66 (64) MARTIN Tony, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 12
67 (65) GOSS Matthew Harley, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 12
68 (66) VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 11
69 (67) MACHADO Tiago, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 11
70 (68) ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 10
71 (69) VANDENBERGH Stijn, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 10
72 (-) FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 10
73 (70) DEGENKOLB John, TEAM ARGOS – SHIMANO (ARG) 10
74 (71) KLÖDEN Andreas, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 10
75 (72) VELITS Peter, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 10
76 (73) DUMOULIN Samuel, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 10
77 (74) BOASSON HAGEN Edvald, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 8
78 (76) RATTO Daniele, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING (CAN) 7
79 (77) POPOVYCH Yaroslav, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 6
80 (78) ALBASINI Michael, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 6
81 (79) DE GENDT Thomas, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 6
82 (81) PARISIEN Francois, TEAM ARGOS – SHIMANO (ARG) 6
83 (80) IMPEY Daryl, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 6
84 (82) BOUHANNI Nacer, FDJ (FDJ) 6
85 (83) VIVIANI Elia, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING (CAN) 6
86 (84) RENSHAW Mark, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 6
87 (85) KITTEL Marcel, TEAM ARGOS – SHIMANO (ARG) 6
88 (86) GAVAZZI Francesco, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 5
89 (87) SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 5
90 (88) LOPEZ GARCIA David, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 5
91 (89) FERRARI Roberto, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 5
92 (90) GADRET John, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 4
93 (91) DANIELSON Thomas, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 4
94 (92) VEIKKANEN Jussi, FDJ (FDJ) 4
95 (93) IGLINSKY Maxim, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 4
96 (94) VICIOSO ARCOS Angel, KATUSHA (KAT) 4
97 (95) DEMARE Arnaud, FDJ (FDJ) 4
98 (96) PETACCHI Alessandro, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 4
99 (97) MALORI Adriano, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 4
100 (98) BELLETTI Manuel, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 4
101 (99) AGNOLI Valerio, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 4
102 (100) MENCHOV Denis, KATUSHA (KAT) 4
103 (101) WYSS Danilo, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 3
104 (102) NOCENTINI Rinaldo, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 2
105 (103) CARUSO Giampaolo, KATUSHA (KAT) 2
106 (104) ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 2
107 (105) CANTWELL Jonathan, TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF (TST) 2
108 (106) HOWARD Leigh, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 2
109 (107) KISERLOVSKI Robert, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 2
110 (108) LANCASTER Brett, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 2
111 (109) GALLOPIN Tony, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 1
112 (110) VISCONTI Giovanni, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 1
113 (111) PONZI Simone, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
114 (112) FUGLSANG Jakob, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
115 (113) VANENDERT Dennis, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 1
116 (114) WELLENS Tim, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 1
117 (120) SOUPE Geoffrey, FDJ (FDJ) 1
118 (115) WAGNER Robert, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 1
119 (116) FARRAR Tyler, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 1
120 (117) DEBUSSCHERE Jens, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 1
121 (118) CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 1
122 (119) FENN Andrew, OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 1
123 (121) VON HOFF Steele, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 1
124 (122) MARKUS Barry, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 1

1 (1) SPAIN, 686
2 (2) COLOMBIA, 491
3 (3) BELGIUM, 408
4 (7) ITALY, 384
5 (4) SWITZERLAND, 360
6 (5) NETHERLANDS, 337
7 (6) SLOVAKIA, 322
8 (8) FRANCE, 316
9 (9) GREAT BRITAIN, 309
10 (10) AUSTRALIA, 292
11 (14) IRELAND, 247
12 (11) UNITED STATES, 230
13 (12) POLAND, 171
14 (13) SLOVENIA, 163
15 (15) CZECH REPUBLIC, 120
16 (16) NORWAY, 98
17 (17) GERMANY, 58
18 (23) CANADA, 26
19 (18) COSTA RICA, 24
20 (20) PORTUGAL, 21
21 (19) AUSTRIA, 18
22 (21) UKRAINE, 6
23 (22) SOUTH AFRICA, 6
24 (24) FINLAND, 4
25 (25) KAZAKHSTAN, 4
26 (26) RUSSIA, 4
27 (27) CROATIA, 2
28 (28) DENMARK, 1