The 2018/19 cyclocross season wrapped up on Sunday at Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle where Denise Betsema (Marlux – Bingoal) and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux – Bingoal) took home season-ending—and in one case, career-ending—wins.
The race also wraps up the chase for UCI points during the 2018/19 season. Although the UCI rankings do not necessarily indicate the best rider, they do provide a measure of consistency across cyclocross races during the six-month season.
UCI points are awarded on a decreasing scale based on finish, with a Worlds win netting 400 points, a World Cup win getting 200, national and continental championships 100, C1s 80 and C2s 40. The point hauls for wins in some categories are expected to change next season.
Points are totaled over the last 365 days, with a few race caps. A rider’s top six scores from C1s and top eight from C2s are counted, and all World Cups are used in a rider’s total score. With 9 World Cups held in the 2018/19 season, the maximum possible UCI point total was 3,200.
Women’s Rankings
When the final rider crossed the line in Oostmalle, Sanne Cant (IKO – Beobank) was the top woman with 2002 points. Marianne Vos (CCC – Liv) was second with 1996 and Betsema third with 1860.
The top three in the final Women’s UCI rankings. Elite Women. 2019 Hoogerheide World Cup, GP Adri van der Poel. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Kaitie Keough (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) was the top North American in 7th and Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing CX) and Maghalie Rochette (CX Fever p/b Specialized) were close behind in 12th and 14th, respectively.
Kaitie Keough finished the season as the top North American woman. Elite Women. 2019 Hoogerheide World Cup, GP Adri van der Poel. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Men’s Rankings
Not surprisingly, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus) finished atop the rankings for the Men. He racked up a total of 2,600 points, missing the perfect score because of the three World Cups he skipped during the season.
The Worlds podium reflected the top three UCI point-getters with Wout van Aert (Cibel – Cebon Offroad Team) in second and Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions) in third.
The World’s podium reflected the final UCI rankings for the season. Elite Men, 2019 Cyclocross World Championships, Bogense, Denmark. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Curtis White (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) was the top North American in 16th and Kerry Werner (Kona Maxxis Shimano) landed just outside the top 20 in 22nd.
Curtis White finished his best cyclocross season in the top 15 in the UCI rankings. 2019 GP Sven Nys, Baal. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Top 50 Women and Men’s UCI rankings are below. Full rankings are available on uci.org.
Final 2018/19 Women's UCI Rankings Top 50
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Age | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CANT Sanne | BELGIUM | 29 | 2002 |
| 2 | VOS Marianne | NETHERLANDS | 32 | 1996 |
| 3 | BETSEMA Denise | NETHERLANDS | 26 | 1860 |
| 4 | WORST Annemarie | NETHERLANDS | 24 | 1689 |
| 5 | BRAND Lucinda | NETHERLANDS | 30 | 1623 |
| 6 | SELS Loes | BELGIUM | 34 | 1341 |
| 7 | KEOUGH Kaitlin | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 27 | 1311 |
| 8 | ALVARADO Ceylin del Carmen | NETHERLANDS | 21 | 1266 |
| 9 | ARZUFFI Alice Maria | ITALY | 25 | 1256 |
| 10 | VAN LOY Ellen | BELGIUM | 39 | 1209 |
| 11 | BRAMMEIER Nikki | GREAT BRITAIN | 33 | 1173 |
| 12 | NOBLE Ellen | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 24 | 1109 |
| 13 | NUÑO PALACIO Aida | SPAIN | 36 | 1009 |
| 14 | ROCHETTE Maghalie | CANADA | 26 | 984 |
| 15 | LECHNER Eva | ITALY | 34 | 978 |
| 16 | VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge | NETHERLANDS | 20 | 928 |
| 17 | VERDONSCHOT Laura | BELGIUM | 23 | 900 |
| 18 | COMPTON Katherine | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 41 | 888 |
| 19 | WYMAN Helen | GREAT BRITAIN | 38 | 870 |
| 20 | HAVLÍKOVÁ Pavla | CZECH REPUBLIC | 36 | 817 |
| 21 | KAPTHEIJNS Maud | NETHERLANDS | 25 | 804 |
| 22 | NAGENGAST Fleur | NETHERLANDS | 21 | 767 |
| 23 | DE BOER Sophie | NETHERLANDS | 29 | 759 |
| 24 | NASH Katerina | CZECH REPUBLIC | 42 | 758 |
| 25 | MAJERUS Christine | LUXEMBOURG | 32 | 733 |
| 26 | HONSINGER Clara | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 22 | 676 |
| 27 | NEFF Jolanda | SWITZERLAND | 26 | 660 |
| 28 | FAHRINGER Rebecca | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 30 | 657 |
| 29 | HEIGL Nadja | AUSTRIA | 23 | 649 |
| 30 | GONZALEZ BLANCO Lucia | SPAIN | 29 | 645 |
| 31 | RUNNELS Samantha | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 28 | 612 |
| 32 | PETIT Marlène | FRANCE | 28 | 590 |
| 33 | MANI Caroline | FRANCE | 32 | 585 |
| 34 | KASTELIJN Yara | NETHERLANDS | 22 | 534 |
| 35 | CZECZINKAROVÁ Jana | CZECH REPUBLIC | 22 | 533 |
| 36 | VANDERBEKEN Joyce | BELGIUM | 35 | 532 |
| 37 | BRANDAU Elisabeth | GERMANY | 34 | 506 |
| 38 | RIBEROLLE Marion Norbert | FRANCE | 20 | 503 |
| 39 | GILBERT Sunny | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 40 | 493 |
| 40 | CLOUSE Katie | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 18 | 485 |
| 41 | BAKKER Manon | NETHERLANDS | 20 | 471 |
| 42 | RICHARDS Evie | GREAT BRITAIN | 22 | 465 |
| 43 | WEST Ruby | CANADA | 20 | 440 |
| 44 | KAY Anna | GREAT BRITAIN | 20 | 430 |
| 45 | ANTHONY Crystal | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 39 | 392 |
| 46 | MCFADDEN Courtenay | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 34 | 386 |
| 47 | BARONI Francesca | ITALY | 20 | 376 |
| 48 | CRUMPTON Bethany | GREAT BRITAIN | 25 | 365 |
| 49 | KOLLER Nicole | SWITZERLAND | 22 | 346 |
| 50 | IMAI Miho | JAPAN | 32 | 332 |
Final 2018/19 Men's UCI Rankings Top 50
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Age | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | NETHERLANDS | 24 | 2600 |
| 2 | VAN AERT Wout | BELGIUM | 25 | 2452 |
| 3 | AERTS Toon | BELGIUM | 26 | 2415 |
| 4 | VANTHOURENHOUT Michael | BELGIUM | 26 | 1610 |
| 5 | VAN DER HAAR Lars | NETHERLANDS | 28 | 1431 |
| 6 | SWEECK Laurens | BELGIUM | 26 | 1425 |
| 7 | HERMANS Quinten | BELGIUM | 24 | 1406 |
| 8 | VAN KESSEL Corne | NETHERLANDS | 28 | 1291 |
| 9 | MEISEN Marcel | GERMANY | 30 | 1092 |
| 10 | VERMEERSCH Gianni | BELGIUM | 27 | 1026 |
| 11 | VAN DER POEL David | NETHERLANDS | 27 | 979 |
| 12 | PIDCOCK Thomas | GREAT BRITAIN | 20 | 967 |
| 13 | ISERBYT Eli | BELGIUM | 22 | 938 |
| 14 | ORTS LLORET Felipe | SPAIN | 24 | 926 |
| 15 | PAUWELS Kevin | BELGIUM | 35 | 885 |
| 16 | WHITE Curtis | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 24 | 854 |
| 17 | NIEUWENHUIS Joris | NETHERLANDS | 23 | 850 |
| 18 | ADAMS Jens | BELGIUM | 27 | 840 |
| 19 | MERLIER Tim | BELGIUM | 27 | 810 |
| 20 | SOETE Daan | BELGIUM | 25 | 792 |
| 21 | BOROS Michael | CZECH REPUBLIC | 27 | 767 |
| 22 | WERNER Kerry | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 28 | 753 |
| 23 | MEEUSEN Tom | BELGIUM | 31 | 752 |
| 24 | AERNOUTS Jim | BELGIUM | 30 | 671 |
| 25 | BENOIST Antoine | FRANCE | 20 | 655 |
| 26 | HECHT Gage | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 21 | 640 |
| 27 | CANAL Fabien | FRANCE | 30 | 636 |
| 28 | BAESTAENS Vincent | BELGIUM | 30 | 624 |
| 29 | CLEPPE Nicolas | BELGIUM | 24 | 618 |
| 30 | AERTS Thijs | BELGIUM | 23 | 598 |
| 31 | BOULO Matthieu | FRANCE | 30 | 583 |
| 32 | SWEECK Diether | BELGIUM | 26 | 558 |
| 33 | CHAINEL Steve | FRANCE | 36 | 553 |
| 34 | BERTOLINI Gioele | ITALY | 24 | 552 |
| 35 | HYDE Stephen | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 32 | 533 |
| 36 | WOUTERS Sieben | NETHERLANDS | 23 | 495 |
| 37 | NESVADBA Jan | CZECH REPUBLIC | 28 | 491 |
| 38 | MOUREY Francis | FRANCE | 39 | 477 |
| 39 | CLARK Anthony | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 32 | 476 |
| 40 | VAN DEN HAM Michael | CANADA | 27 | 464 |
| 41 | MENUT David | FRANCE | 27 | 453 |
| 42 | VANTHOURENHOUT Dieter | BELGIUM | 34 | 450 |
| 43 | GODRIE Stan | NETHERLANDS | 26 | 437 |
| 44 | MERLIER Braam | BELGIUM | 25 | 434 |
| 45 | LOOCKX Lander | BELGIUM | 22 | 411 |
| 46 | TURNER Ben | GREAT BRITAIN | 20 | 397 |
| 47 | WEBER Sascha | GERMANY | 31 | 390 |
| 48 | ESTEBAN AGUERO Ismael | SPAIN | 36 | 383 |
| 49 | VAN DER MEER Gosse | NETHERLANDS | 24 | 378 |
| 50 | DORIGONI Jakob | ITALY | 21 | 374 |
