Chris Froome‘s overall victory in the 2017 Vuelta a España on Sunday has propelled Team Sky to the top of the latest men’s UCI WorldTour ranking.

The British outfit now sits ahead of Belgian team Quick-Step Floors, with US-registered team BMC Racing in third. Unsurprisingly, Froome’s victory in the Vuelta and the Tour de France in July have contributed greatly to the team’s total.

Froome himself moves up to second in the individual rider ranking for the WorldTour as leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) strengthened his position at the top of the table after finishing second in the GP de Québec in Canada behind Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) on Friday.

With only three races left in the 2017 men’s WorldTour calendar it is now looking highly unlikely that anyone can unseat Van Avermaet from the top spot.

Van Avermaet tallied up a huge number of WorldTour points after a stunning spring campaign with wins in Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Only Froome has enough points to challenge Van Avermaet, but he is unlikely to ride – and win – Il Lombardia (September 30), the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (October 10-15) or the Tour of Guangxi (October 19-24).

Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) sealed the final top spot in the women’s WorldTour after the series closed with the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta on Sunday. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) placed second, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Pro Cycling) in third.

Van der Breggen’s Boels-Dolmans team took a dominant win in the women’s team classification ahead of Team Sunweb.

The majority of the top-ranked riders are now looking ahead to the 2017 UCI Road World Championships, which takes place in Bergen, Norway, over September 17-24. Road race, individual time trial and team time trial disciplines are included. </s> Madrid: Chris Froome has won his first Spanish Vuelta title to secure the elusive Tour de France-Vuelta double.

Froome had virtually secured victory with a solid performance in the difficult climb up the Alto de l'Angliru on Saturday, which marked the last competitive stage of the three-week race.

"It's just incredible," Froome said. "I'm still coming to terms with everything. It's been such an incredible journey."

Riders cruised to the finish in Sunday's 21st stage. Italian Matteo Trentin won the final sprint to clinch his fourth stage victory in this year's Vuelta.

Froome, who earlier this year clinched his fourth Tour de France title, had finished runner-up in La Vuelta three times, including last year.

The Team Sky rider became the third man to complete the Tour-Vuelta double in the same season, after Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978, when the Vuelta was still held in the spring before the Tour.

"Just the fact that nobody's ever won the Tour and then La Vuelta afterwards, it's incredible to be able to do it," said Froome, the first British rider to win the Vuelta.

"It's just been an amazing few months and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to that. I've been fighting for this victory for six years and three years I've been standing on the second step so it's amazing to stand on the first step this time."

Froome won two Vuelta stages this year, finishing two minutes, 15 seconds in front of Italian Vincenzo Nibali of Team Bahrain-Merida, who won the Vuelta in 2010 and was runner-up in 2013.

Russian Ilnur Zakarin of Team Katusha Alpecin, secured the final podium spot, almost three minutes behind Froome.

Froome also won the points competition, while Astana Pro Team won the overall team event.

Alberto Contador, the three-time Vuelta winner, ended his career on a high note by winning Saturday's difficult 20th stage. He was loudly cheered by Spanish fans as he arrived to cross the finish line one last time.

The rest of the riders allowed him to break from the peloton and ride a few moments by himself as the fans applauded. After the race, Contador took a Spanish flag and went for one final parade lap.

"It was very special to get to lead all the riders into Madrid," Contador said. "It was an incredible finish. I dreamed about ending my career this way."

"It's a dream. I can't imagine a better goodbye than this," he said." </s> Chris Froome (Team Sky) sealed an historic Vuelta a España victory on the final stage in Madrid, as Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step) claimed stage honours.

Trentin wins his fourth stage of the race after out-sprinting the field on the final straight of the finishing circuits in the Spanish capital.

>>> Tour-Vuelta double places Chris Froome among the true greats of cycling

Froome adds Vuelta victory to his four Tour de France titles, and becomes only the third rider in history to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) claimed second place overall, with Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) also finishing safely to secure his first Grand Tour podium with third place.

As expected, it was a procession for the peloton for much of the 117.6km into Madrid, allowing for the jersey wearers to pose for photos and Team Sky to celebrate with some beer from the team car.

Things didn’t get going until mid-way through the first lap of the 5.6km circuit in the centre of Madrid, after bunch had allowed the retiring Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) to ride the final few kilometres solo into the city and cross the finish for the first time by himself in celebration.

Sky were the first team to kick the race into action, as they began their mission of trying to stop Matteo Trentin from making a late grab for Chris Froome’s green jersey of the points competition.

Trentin sat 26 points down on Froome in third place in the classification ahead of the stage, and needed to stop Froome from grabbing any points at the intermediate sprint and win the stage with Froome outside of the top-14 to claim green.

Quick-Step, clearly unhappy with Sky trying to ruin their day, eventually organised an amassed their strongest riders to the front.

The sprint point came on the third lap with 33.6km to go and red jersey Froome was the first to launch his sprint to try and grab some points. There was nothing he could do to stop the power of Quick-Step though, who in the end managed to get Trentin across the line to take four points with another their riders just behind.

Sky’s Gianni Moscon claimed third to take the final point up for grabs.

Once that fight was over, a breakaway then tried to get away in earnest, with Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) and Nicholas Schultz (Caja Rural) managed to get away with a small gap.

They held their gap for some time with Schultz the first to drop away. De Marchi and Costa were able to hold on until the start of the final lap with 5.5km to when they were enveloped by the peloton as the sprinter’s teams prepared their fast men for the finish.

Quick-Step then dominated the front of the pack in the final 3km, leading Trentin right into the final 250 or so metres where he began his sprint very early.

The Italian launched through the centre of the road with Lorenzo Manzin (FDJ) and Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) challenging him, but no-one was able to stop him from claiming his fourth stage victory of the race.

Behind, Chris Froome unexpectedly got himself in the mix of the bunch sprint and snuck home in 11th place, enough to hold onto the green jersey by two points (158 to 156) over Trentin.

More importantly, Froome was able to make it home safely to claim his fifth career Grand Tour victory, his first at the Vuelta.

There was one small change on GC, with Alberto Contador slipping down to fifth behind Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) after dropping back to celebrate over the final finish line of his career.

1. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-06-29

 2. Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ

 3. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb

 4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac

 5. Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida

 6. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott

 7. Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

 8. Sacha Modolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

 9, Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

 10. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ, all same time

1. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, in 82-30-02

 2. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 2-15

 3. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, at 2-51

 4. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 3-15

 5. Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 3-18

 6. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 6-59

 7. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, at 8-27

 8. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, at 9-13

 9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 11-18

 10. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, at 15-50 </s> Chris Froome became the first British winner of the Vuelta a España on Sunday night, adding the title to his 2017 Tour de France crown in what has been a golden summer of success for the cyclist.

The Briton is only the third rider in history to win the Tour and Vuelta in the same year and the first to do so since Bernard Hinault in 1978. Only Hinault and Jacques Anquetil have managed to complete this particular ‘double’ previously.

Froome is also the first winner of two Grand Tours in the same season since Alberto Contador won the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta in 2008 and the first ever to take both the Tour and Vuelta since the latter moved dates from April to September in 1996.

In almost a carbon copy of his fourth Tour de France win earlier this year, Froome built an early lead in Spain and Team Sky were able to fend off the attacks of his rivals to see it home, with Froome able to extend his advantage on the penultimate stage.

The Team Sky rider finished the race two minutes and 15 seconds clear of second-placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali, with Russia's Ilnur Zakarin third. </s> Chris Froome and Team Sky are set to earn a combined Vuelta a Espana prize in excess of €457,000 (£416,600) having all-but-secured the top spot after finishing third in the penultimate stage of the race.

The four-time Tour de France winner will add another chapter to a storied career by becoming the first Briton to win the Vuelta and only the third man ever to win it in the same year as triumphing in France, as long as he finishes the final sprint stage in Madrid.

It will top off what has been a lucrative €1m summer for Froome and his teammates, after they won a record prize at the Tour de France worth more than €600,000.

The lion's share of prize money is awarded to individual racers, although some teams opt to split the overall prize for general classification.

With Froome nearly certain to win, he can look forward to a generous general classification prize of €155,000 to add to the €281,410 he's already earned from individual stage performances.

Read more: Team Sky and Chris Froome pick up record prize money at 2017 Tour de France

Prize money is awarded to the first 20 finishers on each stage, with €11,000 up for grabs for the first to cross the line each day.

Yet the vast majority of Froome's individual earnings have come from his sustained dominance over the rest of peloton.

The 32-year-old, set for a fifth Grand Tour victory after three second place finishes in the Vuelta, has this year led race since the third stage.

Like the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, the Vuelta leader races in a red jersey - a reward that also comes with €10,500 in prize money per stage.

Podium contenders Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Ilnur Zakarin have so far only earned a combined €66,025 having failed to prise the red jersey from Froome.

Although their earnings will also be boosted with a general classification prize, so far 85th-placed Matteo Trentin and 97th-placed Davide Villella have earned more.

Trentin has held onto the green jersey and Villella the polka-dot jersey, signifiers of the points leader and best climber respectively, and both worth €2,000 per stage.

Froome has also benefited from the €1,400 paid each stage to the combined racer and team leader.

Further prizes are handed out for the winners of climbs and other categories. </s> Bahrain-Merida‘s Ramunas Navardauskus has moved into the overall lead at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina after winning the 11.9-kilometre individual time trial on stage three.

The three-time former Lithuanian national time trial champion produced an excellent performance on the flat course around San Juan, claiming Bahrain-Merida’s first ever victory.

Navardauskus won the stage by a slender three seconds over Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), with Mollema’s team-mate Matthias Brändle finishing third only a fraction of a second ahead of Frenchman Remi Cavagna, riding in his first professional race.

Previous overall leader Elia Viviani, riding for the Italian national team, was never expected to hold onto the leader’s jersey, finishing 35 seconds down in 14th place.

Viviani finished in the same time as Navardauskus’s team-mate and pre-race favourite Vincenzo Nibali, who will now have to perform well on the summit finish on stage five to overcome Bauke Mollema, not to mention highly motivated local riders, for the overall title.

>>> Vincenzo Nibali: It’s difficult to fail at the Tour when you have a budget like Team Sky

Riders used their regular road bikes – some equipped with clip-on tri bars and rear disc wheels – as the rules stipulated that specialist time trial bikes could not be used. However, riders could still benefit from using aero helmets and TT skinsuits.

Thursday’s stage four is another flat one, starting and finishing in San Martin, before the race is likely to be decided on the summit finish to Alto Colorado on stage five.

Vuelta a San Juan 2017, stage three: San Juan to San Juan, 11.9km ITT

 1. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida, in 14-03

 2. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 3 secs

 3. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo, at 7 secs

 4. Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors, at 7 secs

 5. Walter Vargas (Col) Medellin-Inder, at 17 secs

 6. Sebastian Trillini (Arg) Italomat-dogo, at 19 secs

 7. Oscar Sevilla (Esp) Medellin-Inder, at 19 secs

 8. Laureano Rosas (Arg) Argentina, at 21 secs

 9. Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima, at 32 secs

 10. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Bahrain-Merida, at 32 secs

 Other

 13. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 35 secs

 14. Elia Viviani (Ita) Italy, at 35 secs

General classification after stage three

 1. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida, in 6-22-27

 2. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 3 secs

 3. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo, at 7 secs

 4. Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors, at 7 secs

 5. Sebastian Trillini (Arg) Italomat-dogo, at 19 secs

 6. Oscar Sevilla (Esp) Medellin-Inder, at 19 secs

 7. Laureano Rosas (Arg) Argentina, at 21 secs

 8. Elia Viviani (Ita) Italy, at 35 secs

 9. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step Floors, at 29 secs

 10. Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima, at 32 secs </s> Chris Froome failed in his bid to eat into Nairo Quintana’s overall lead as the Colombian effectively claimed race victory on the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

Despite a number of challenges on the Aito de Aitana, Team Sky’s Froome was not able to distance himself from his rival, leaving the Movistar man’s one minute and 23 second lead intact with just today’s processional stage into Madrid to come. Frenchman Pierre Latour (AG2R-La Mondiale) won the stage from a breakaway inspired by Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange), who succeeded in wresting overall third place from Spain’s Alberto Contador and denying the Tinkoff team a podium place in their final Grand Tour.

Froome had started the day with high hopes of overhauling Quintana after pulling over two minutes back on his rival during the individual time trial stage on Friday.

But Quintana matched the Briton’s best efforts to all but end his quest to become the first man to win both the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year since the great Bernard Hinault in 1978.

The pair rode to the summit almost together and as Quintana sprinted clear at the last, Froome took his hands off the handlebars to applaud his rival.

Meanwhile, Steve Cummings will take a 26-second lead into the final stage of the Tour of Britain in London today after emerging unscathed from a difficult double stage in Bristol. A strong display from Rohan Dennis (BMC), who won the penultimate stage having placed second in the time trial earlier in the day, narrowed the gap to the overall leader, which had been 49 seconds at the start of the day.

But Cummings (Dimension Data) did just enough to hold on to first place, finishing fourth in the time trial and safely within the main group at the finish of stage 7b.

Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) had claimed victory in the time trial, pipping Dennis by three seconds.

Then Dennis attacked shortly before the finish of 7b, but Cummings led the pursuers, keeping the Australian in his sights. </s> Madrid (AP) — Movistar rider Nairo Quintana won the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday, adding the title to the 2014 Giro d’Italia on his Grand Tour list of honors.

The Colombian climbing expert had cemented his commanding lead over nearest rival Chris Froome in Saturday’s decisive mountain stage.

Following custom, Froome did not challenge Quintana on the traditional ride into the Spanish capital on the 21st and final stage. Instead, the two top cyclists of the moment spent some time chatting as they pedaled along side by side.

Quintana finished the 71st edition of the race 1 minute, 23 seconds in front of second-placed Froome.

Quintana completed the grueling three-week course that covered 3,315.5 kilometers (2,060 miles) in 83 hours, 31 minutes, 28 seconds.

Esteban Chaves finished in third place and more than four minutes off the pace. He was followed by three-time Vuelta winner Alberto Contador in fourth.

Quintana wore the red leader’s jersey for the 12th consecutive day as he rode into Madrid flanked by his triumphant Movistar teammates.

Quintana raised both arms in victory as he breezed across the line in the pack behind the sprinters competing for the stage. He then exchanged embraces with his teammates before shaking hands with Froome.

“I woke up this morning feeling like the winner, but I couldn’t raise my arms in celebration until I crossed the finish line,” Quintana said. “This is probably the most important (win) for me, considering the scenario and who I was racing against. Froome is a great rival.”

Magnus Cort Nielsen of Denmark won the flat 105-kilometer (65-mile) ride starting in Las Rozas before making loops through Madrid’s center in 2 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds. It was his second stage win of this race.

At age 26, Quintana has established himself as one of the premier cyclists in the world and the top rival to three-time Tour de France champion Froome.

Quintana has twice finished runner-up to Froome at the Tour, most recently in July when he couldn’t mount a serious challenge to Froome and his dominant Sky team.

Two months later, Quintana finally got the better of the British cyclist after pulling away to win the Vuelta’s mountainous 10th stage finishing at Lagos de Covadonga.

He increased his lead to more than 3 ½ minutes by using an early breakaway on the 14th stage, finishing at the Aramon Formigal summit. That gave him the cushion he needed to survive a blistering time trial by Froome on the 19th stage.

Froome finished second at the Vuelta for a third time, after also coming close in 2011 and 2014.

“Nairo was great this Vuelta. Team Movistar was great this Vuelta … they really rode well and deserve the victory,” Froome said. “Of course I was here to fight for the victory, but after the season I have had, the Tour, the Olympic games, the Vuelta, this has been the best season for me.”

Quintana was leading the 2014 Vuelta when he was forced to withdraw with a broken shoulder after falls on consecutive days.

“I have tried to win the Vuelta so many times and I finally did so today,” he said.

The large crowd that turned out to celebrate his victory waved Colombian flags. Quintana became the second Colombian to win this race after Luis Herrera in 1987.

Quintana said that the elusive Tour remained his top goal.

“It’s a dream that is still with me and I hope one day I can make it come true,” he said. “I will keep working toward it.” </s> Nairo Quintana is poised to win the Vuelta a España after protecting his lead over Chris Froome in a gruelling penultimate stage in the southern mountains on Saturday.

Barring an accident or incident on the final stage’s traditional arrival in Madrid, the Colombian riding for Movistar will add the Vuelta to the 2014 Giro d’Italia on his Grand Tour list of honors.

Pierre-Roger Latour of France won the 193-kilometre (120-mile) stage traversing three category-two ascents from Benidorm to a special-category finish at the Alto de Aitana summit in over five hours.

Froome had reduced Quintana’s lead by more than two minutes by winning Friday’s time trial to move to within 1m21sec. But Quintana kept Froome in check throughout Saturday’s ride, responding to his repeated attacks on the final 21-kilometre (13-mile) climb before passing him just before the finish. Froome clapped as Quintana pulled past him following the last of several one-on-one climbing duels the two stars had at the three-week Grand Tour.

Quintana has twice finished runner-up to Froome at the Tour de France, the last time in July when Froome and his Sky team were dominant.

Froome lies 1m23sec behind Quintana, while Esteban Chaves moved past Alberto Contador into a third-place finish after making up time with a long-distance attack. A three-time Tour winner, Froome is set to finish the Vuelta as runner-up for a third time. He finished second in 2011 and 2014.

Latour, who rides for AG2R La Mondiale, edged Darwin Atapuma at the line for his first win at a major race. The 21st and final stage is a flat 105-kilometre (65-mile) ride from Las Rozas to the Spanish capital.
The general classification of the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España is won for the first time by British cyclist Chris Froome from Team Sky, ahead of Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain-Merida Pro Cycling Team.