Away from the main spectacle, XDS Astana Team banked big time at the Tour of Hainan. Thomas Silva won general classification and two stages (305 points), supported by Nicolas Vinokurov in sixth (80 points), it allows the team to look away from mediocre sprint performances.
In the rest of the Top 10, Alpecin-Premier Tech (6th) overtook Bahrain Victorious (7th) thanks to unlikely Amstel Gold Race hero Emiel Verstrynge in fifth place (225 points). Jayco AlUla holds eighth for another week. Soudal – Quick-Step stays ninth. Lidl-Trek climb two places into the Top 10, above all thanks to Mattias Skjelmose’s second place at the Amstel Gold Race.
Wild card battleThe battle at the edge of WorldTour saw no major shifts (besides Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team getting a little breathier on Unibet Rose Rockets after Quinten Hermans’ Brabantse Pijl podium) this week. Cofidis holds a 700-point lead among ProTeams, with Q36.5, Unibet and Tudor within 300 points.
Further down the list is the interesting battle for a top-30 spot, necessary to qualify for a Grand Tour invitation. Novo Nordisk, Flanders-Baloise, and Modern Pro Adventure are probably expected far outside the battle (despite amazing performances of Tom Crabbe and Byron Munton for the latter two teams).
Quinten Hermans, Anders Foldager and Benoit Cosnefroy on Brabantse Pijl podium
Spanish teams are doing better than Italian
However, Italian teams are also in a pickle. Currently, only Polti VisitMalta sits comfortably within the top-30. Solution Tech NIPPO Rali – 31st on the 2025 ranking – are barely hanging on to a 30th spot, 18 points ahead of continental Li Ning Star. However, the Chinese team will have scored notable points at Uzbekistan’s Tour of Fergana (2.2), bridging this gap for the moment, as another continental team, Terengganu Cycling Team, is within 20 points of Solution Tech.
The situation is even more dismal at Bardiani CSF 7 Saber and MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort, 35th and 36th, respectively. Bardiani are invited for this year’s Giro d’Italia, where they’ll be able to score a significant amount of points, but both teams need to get up to speed sooner rather than later.
Contrary to the Italian teams’ problems, Spanish lineups are doing rather commendably currently: Burgos is 23rd, Caja Rural 24th, Kern Pharma 27th, and Euskaltel – left out of Grand Tour talks for 2026 – 28th. All above 1,000 UCI points already in the second half of April.
Picnic is in a tight spot
And even more interestingly, all four Spanish ProTeams rank above WorldTour Picnic PostNL. The Dutch team is in a tangible crisis. Their only reliable performer in 2026, Pavel Bittner, is single-handedly responsible for almost half of Picnic’s points (485 out of 1,016). The second-best scorer is neo-pro Frits Biesterbos with 104 points.
It’s not that Picnic doesn’t have any capable scorers at all; however, key riders were dealing with injuries and illness throughout most of the spring. Therefore, stars Max Poole, Casper van Uden, Fabio Jakobsen, John Degenkolb, and Warren Barguil have so far combined for 75 UCI points. And that’s largely thanks to Degenkolb’s 60.
Pavel Bittner has so far been the only reliable scorer of Picnic PostNL in 2026
UCI Teams Ranking (20.04.2026)PositionTeamClassUCI points1 UAE Team Emirates – XRGWT11084.42 Red Bull – BORA – hansgroheWT8187.93 Team Visma | Lease a BikeWT7653.44 Decathlon CMA CGM TeamWT6422.55 XDS Astana TeamWT5750.66 Alpecin-Premier TechWT51147 Bahrain – VictoriousWT49068 Team Jayco AlUlaWT46949 Soudal Quick-StepWT434010 Lidl – TrekWT4209.311 Uno-X MobilityWT3760.812 INEOS GrenadiersWT372413 CofidisPRT3719.714 NSN Cycling TeamWT346515 Groupama – FDJ UnitedWT3346.316 Lotto IntermarchéWT319717 Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling TeamPRT308218 Movistar TeamWT3020.919 EF Education – EasyPostWT3000.320 Unibet Rose RocketsPRT286421 Tudor Pro Cycling TeamPRT274722 TotalEnergiesPRT2158.723 Burgos Burpellet BHPRT1881.924 Caja Rural – Seguros RGAPRT167825 Roojai Insurance WinspaceCT1156.326 Team Polti VisitMaltaPRT1134.627 Equipo Kern PharmaPRT112328 Euskaltel – EuskadiPRT102329 Team Picnic PostNLWT101630 Solution Tech NIPPO RaliPRT758.331 Li Ning StarCT740.332 XDS Astana Development TeamCT69733 Terengganu Cycling TeamCT69534 Bardiani CSF 7 SaberPRT63135 MBH Bank CSB Telecom FortPRT62336 PetrolikeCT57737 Team BrennanCT52038 UAE Team Emirates Gen ZCT49839 CCACHE x BODYWRAPCT47740 Modern Adventure Pro CyclingPRT46941 Soudal Quick-Step Devo TeamCT461.942 Team Flanders – BaloisePRT43343 CIC Pro Cycling AcademyCT36044 Van Rysel RoubaixCT35545 Team AmaniCT337.746 Madar Pro Cycling TeamCT300.747 Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe RookiesCT298.948 Groupama-FDJ United CTCT27949 Lidl – Trek Future RacingCT260.450 Team Medellín – EPMCT258