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Where are the top riders starting their season?
analysis
05 January 2022, by Bert Lip
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The pro-season is about to start in a few weeks. So where are the top riders starting their season? In this overview you have a dynamic overview of the first race of the top-100 riders from the PCS ranking (as far as race programs are available).
Table 1. First race of the season for top-20 PCS ranking (*programs known on January 19th)
#RiderDateRace
1 POGAČAR Tadej20/02UAE Tour
2 VAN AERT Wout26/02Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
3 ROGLIČ Primož26/02Faun-Ardèche Classic
4 ALAPHILIPPE Julian10/02Tour de la Provence
5 ALMEIDA João20/02UAE Tour
6 COLBRELLI Sonny26/02Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
7 PHILIPSEN Jasper27/03Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
8 BERNAL Egan10/02Tour de la Provence
9 VAN DER POEL Mathieu05/03Strade Bianche
10 YATES Adam24/04Liège-Bastogne-Liège
11 GAUDU David16/02Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta
12 VALVERDE Alejandro26/01Trofeo Calvia
13 MOHORIČ Matej02/02Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
14 CARAPAZ Richard06/05Giro d'Italia
15 VINGEGAARD Jonas26/02Faun-Ardèche Classic
16 WOODS Michael10/04Amstel Gold Race
17 EVENEPOEL Remco02/02Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
18 MOLLEMA Bauke30/01Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise
19 ASGREEN Kasper10/02Tour de la Provence
20 MERLIER Tim06/05Giro d'Italia
21 MAS Enric26/01
22 CAVENDISH Mark06/05
23 STUYVEN Jasper26/02
24 KÜNG Stefan16/02
25 NIZZOLO Giacomo26/01
26 HAYTER Ethan06/03
27 LAPORTE Christophe16/02
28 VAN POPPEL Danny01/02
29 MATTHEWS Michael26/01
30 TRENTIN Matteo30/01
31 YATES Simon06/05
32 DÉMARE Arnaud10/02
33 ULISSI Diego30/01
34 SAGAN Peter18/02
35 MARTIN Guillaume30/01
36 CARUSO Damiano16/02
37 O'CONNOR Ben06/03
38 HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich22/03
39 SCHACHMANN Maximilian26/01
40 VLASOV Aleksandr02/02
41 LUTSENKO Alexey10/02
42 BARDET Romain
43 VAN BAARLE Dylan26/02
44 KELDERMAN Wilco02/02
45 THOMAS Geraint05/03
46 PORTE Richie07/03
47 IZAGIRRE Ion12/02
48 SÉNÉCHAL Florian26/02
49 BILBAO Pello16/02
50 HAIG Jack02/02
51 ACKERMANN Pascal26/01
52 QUINTANA Nairo10/02
53 CATTANEO Mattia16/02
54 CHAVES Esteban
55 URÁN Rigoberto
56 JAKOBSEN Fabio02/02
57 GANNA Filippo02/02
58 COSNEFROY Benoît26/01
59 VIVIANI Elia20/02
60 PIDCOCK Thomas26/02
61 PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien06/03
62 LAMPAERT Yves02/02
63 HERMANS Ben19/08
64 PEDERSEN Mads30/01
65 WELLENS Tim26/01
66 KONRAD Patrick26/01
67 CORT Magnus30/01
68 TEUNS Dylan02/02
69 LÓPEZ Miguel Ángel14/02
70 KUSS Sepp26/02
71 ARANBURU Alex26/01
72 POLITT Nils26/01
73 MARTIN Dan
74 POWLESS Neilson
75 KRISTOFF Alexander26/01
76 MASNADA Fausto06/05
77 GODON Dorian
78 EWAN Caleb01/02
79 HIRSCHI Marc30/03
80 BENNETT Sam01/02
81 KWIATKOWSKI Michał05/03
82 LANDA Mikel16/02
83 VAN AVERMAET Greg02/02
84 MÄDER Gino16/02
85 BENOOT Tiesj26/02
86 VALGREN Michael26/02
87 BONNAMOUR Franck30/01
88 CARTHY Hugh
89 BARGUIL Warren26/01
90 TURGIS Anthony01/02
91 VERMEERSCH Gianni25/03
92 HERRADA Jesús26/01
93 MEEUS Jordi01/02
94 BOUHANNI Nacer23/01
95 MOSCON Gianni16/02
96 SWIFT Connor30/01
97 MADOUAS Valentin18/02
98 COVI Alessandro26/01
99 CHAMPOUSSIN Clément05/03
100 VAN DER SANDE Tosh26/02
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First race
A lot of the top-100 riders start their season in February or March. Tadej Pogacar starts on February 20th in the UAE Tour, which is the 51st day of the year. The average day a rider from the top-100 starts his season in 2022 is 78.8, or March 21st. This number will change significantly as we don't have complete rider programs yet. We tabelized the number also for historical seasons since 2000. This shows a significant trend. If we compare the 3-year average from 2000-2002 (44.5) to that of 2017-2019 (32.4) we can conclude that top riders started their season on average 12 days earlier. In covid season 2020 and 2021 the number spiked due to cancelled races.
Table 2. Average first day of the season for top-100 riders (as of January 19th)
YearDaynameDay
202221 February
51.3
202120 February
50.4
20209 February
39.1
20195 February
35.3
201831 January
30.2
20172 February
31.6
20164 February
33.6
20156 February
35.8
20145 February
34.5
20132 February
32.1
20123 February
32.9
20116 February
36.0
20107 February
37.2
20096 February
35.8
200811 February
41.1
200710 February
39.6
200612 February
41.7
200514 February
44.3
200411 February
40.6
200312 February
42.4
200210 February
40.1
200119 February
49.0
200014 February
44.4
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Races come and go over the years. Especially in the first months of the season there are new races added to the calendar, for example the UAE tour. In the following table we charted the country per season with the highest number of top-100 riders making their season start.
Table 3. Country with highest number of top-100 riders making their season start
SeasonCountry#Riders
2021 France
62
2020 Spain
29
2019 Spain
37
2018 Spain
31
2017 Spain
37
2016 Spain
38
2015 Spain
38
2014 Spain
21
2013 Spain
23
2012 Spain
24
2011 Spain
32
2010 Spain
25
2009 Spain
22
2008 Spain
20
2007 Spain
35
2006 Spain
28
2005 Spain
32
2004 Spain
42
2003 Spain
37
2002 Spain
32
2001 France
34
2000 Spain
42
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Between 2002 and 2020 Spain was the most preferred country. Last season France took over with a high number of 62 riders starting their first race.
Table 4. Country with 2nd highest number of top-100 riders making their season start
SeasonCountry#Riders
2021 United Arab Emirates
16
2020 Australia
21
2019 France
17
2018 Australia
21
2017 Australia
21
2016 France
19
2015 France
13
2014 Argentina
18
2013 France
22
2012 Australia
20
2011 France
19
2010 France
17
2009 France
17
2008 Italy
17
2007 France
15
2006 France
20
2005 France
31
2004 France
22
2003 France
23
2002 France
24
2001 Spain
25
2000 France
30
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