2005 UCI ProTour

2005 UCI ProTourFirst edition of the UCI ProTour

Details
Dates| March 6 – October 15
Location| Europe
Races| 28
Champions
Individual champion|  Danilo Di Luca (ITA) (Liquigas–Bianchi)
Teams' champion| Team CSC
Nations' champion|  Italy

<- 2004 (UCI Road World Cup)

2006 ->

The 2005 ProTour was the first year of the newly introduced UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. In certain ways the ProTour replaced the UCI Road World Cup series of one-day races, which in 2004 was won by one-day specialist Paolo Bettini for the third time in a row. The beginning of the ProTour saw difficult negotiations with the organizers of the Grand Tours, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

## Spring classics

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Following tradition, Team CSC had a strong showing in the early season, with a commanding control of the season opener Paris–Nice, placing American Bobby Julich on the top step of the General classification, combining his strong prologue individual time trial performance and good placing in the Mont Faron queen stage. Sprinter Alessandro Petacchi shed some weight over the winter and built up a strong base to win the classic Milan–San Remo convincingly, leading to speculation that he will be the undisputed Italian team leader for the World Cycling Championship in Madrid later in the season.

Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen of Quick-Step–Innergetic showed that he was the strongest kasseinfretter, or cobble-eater, by winning both the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix cobbled classics, propelling him to the top of the UCI ProTour rankings and thus earning him the white leaders jersey.

As the spring classics campaign continues, Bettini was plagued with injuries, but fellow one-day specialist Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas–Bianchi found his best form in years and won the Tour of the Basque Country race. With his confidence boosted, he topped his form with wins in both La Flèche Wallonne and the Amstel Gold Race, leading many to speculate that he would also win the Liège–Bastogne–Liège. However, Jens Voigt committed himself to long breakaways in both la Flèche and Liège, and in the later race was joined by Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov. Together they managed to keep the peloton behind, and Voigt was beaten in the final sprint by Vinokourov.

## Grand tours

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Having earned the ProTour white leader's jersey, Di Luca further increased his lead with a stage win and fourth place in the general classification of the 2005 Giro d'Italia, joining Gilberto Simoni of Lampre–Caffita in igniting the queen mountain stage of Sestriere. The same race also saw Damiano Cunego, who finished at the top UCI ranking last year, fall ill. In the end, the descending skills and strong form of Paolo Savoldelli earned him the maglia rosa in Milan.

The 2005 Tour de France again brought Lance Armstrong to the win, extending his record for consecutive Tour wins to 7. Despite promises of igniting the race with the trio of Jan Ullrich, Andreas Klöden and Vinokourov, the T-Mobile Team failed to wrestle the race control from Armstrong's Discovery team, and allegations flew abound of internal dispute within the team. Instead Ivan Basso showed himself as a main contender, though he never seemed to pressure Armstrong. As in the previous editions, Armstrong's team launched a vicious attack on an early mountain stage to discourage other contenders from pursuing the top podium. Spanish racer Alejandro Valverde of Illes Balears–Caisse d'Epargne showed that he is a serious contender for the future by not only staying with Armstrong, but by sprinting away to win the stage at the finale. However, both Valverde and green jersey contender Tom Boonen were forced to quit due to injuries.

The Vuelta brought an exciting race in which Denis Menchov was able to stave off attacks by Roberto Heras and his strong Liberty Seguros–Würth team until the closing days of the race. A choreographed attack by Liberty Seguros climbers, and Heras' thrilling ride down a treacherous descent, finally won him the leader's jersey. However, a doping scandal erupted two months after the Vuelta. Urine samples taken from Heras after the final time trial proved to be positive for EPO. Heras was stripped of what had been his record-setting fourth win, and Menchov was elevated to first place.

## World championships

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Belgian Tom Boonen had the confidence of the entire Belgian team, and won in style in Madrid. Petacchi, despite being the favorite, claimed to have suffered from a cold, and could not keep in contention as the peloton ascended the last climb before the finale. Valverde, having taken the Spanish team leadership after the injury of Óscar Freire, overcame his own injury to finish second, his second podium placing in race that tactically was not well-suited to his style.

The finale brought an exciting race as Paolo Bettini, having regained his form, was unleashed a little too late by Italian selector Franco Ballerini and nearly stayed away with Vinokourov in the closing meters of the race.

## Summer and Autumn Classics

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Having been left off the Tour de France lineup, Erik Zabel decided to join fellow sprinter Petacchi in the newly formed Team Milram. As his last race with the T-Mobile team, Zabel took the sprinters classic Paris–Tours to end his career in style.

Smarting from his disappointment at the World Championships, Bettini won Züri-Metzgete convincingly, with a 40-km solo attack in the rain that was almost derailed by his chain dropping off his chainring after his first acceleration. Proving that he is a better climber than ever before, he won the climbers classic Giro di Lombardia in a three-way sprint with Gilberto Simoni and Fränk Schleck.

## 2005 ProTour results

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Date  | Race  | Country  | Winner  | Team

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|
|
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March 6–13  | Paris–Nice |  France |  Bobby Julich (USA) | Team CSC
March 9–15  | Tirreno–Adriatico |  Italy |  Óscar Freire (ESP) | Rabobank
March 19  | Milan–San Remo |  Italy |  Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) | Fassa Bortolo
April 3  | Tour of Flanders |  Belgium |  Tom Boonen (BEL) | Quick-Step–Innergetic
April 5–9  | Tour of the Basque Country |  Spain |  Danilo Di Luca (ITA) | Liquigas–Bianchi
April 6  | Gent–Wevelgem |  Belgium |  Nico Mattan (BEL) | Davitamon–Lotto
April 10  | Paris–Roubaix |  France |  Tom Boonen (BEL) | Quick-Step–Innergetic
April 17  | Amstel Gold Race |  Netherlands |  Danilo Di Luca (ITA) | Liquigas–Bianchi
April 20  | La Flèche Wallonne |  Belgium |  Danilo Di Luca (ITA) | Liquigas–Bianchi
April 24  | Liège–Bastogne–Liège |  Belgium |  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) | T-Mobile Team
April 26 – May 1  | Tour de Romandie |  Switzerland |  Santiago Botero (COL) | Phonak
May 7–29  | Giro d'Italia |  Italy |  Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) | Discovery Channel
May 16–22  | Volta a Catalunya |  Spain |  Yaroslav Popovych (UKR) | Discovery Channel
June 5–12  | Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré |  France |  Íñigo Landaluze (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi
June 11–19  | Tour de Suisse |  Switzerland |  Aitor González (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi
June 19  | Eindhoven Team Time Trial |  Netherlands | team event | Gerolsteiner
July 2–24  | Tour de France |  France | ~~Lance Armstrong (USA)~~ | Discovery Channel
July 31  | HEW Cyclassics |  Germany |  Filippo Pozzato (ITA) | Quick-Step–Innergetic
August 3–10  | Eneco Tour of Benelux |  Belgium
Netherlands |  Bobby Julich (USA) | Team CSC
August 13  | Clásica de San Sebastián |  Spain |  Constantino Zaballa (ESP) | Saunier Duval–Prodir
August 15–23  | Deutschland Tour |  Germany |  Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Gerolsteiner
August 27–18  | Vuelta a España |  Spain |  Roberto Heras (ESP) | Liberty Seguros–Würth
August 28  | GP Ouest-France |  France |  George Hincapie (USA) | Discovery Channel
September 12–18  | Tour de Pologne |  Poland |  Kim Kirchen (LUX) | Fassa Bortolo
September 25  | Road World Championships |  Spain |  Tom Boonen (BEL) | Quick-Step–Innergetic
October 2  | Züri-Metzgete |  Switzerland |  Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Innergetic
October 9  | Paris–Tours |  France |  Erik Zabel (GER) | T-Mobile Team
October 15  | Giro di Lombardia |  Italy |  Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Innergetic

## 2005 ProTour Points System

[edit]

| Tour de France  | Giro d'Italia
Vuelta a España  | Milan–San Remo
Tour of Flanders
Paris–Roubaix
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Giro di Lombardia
Lesser stageraces  | Lesser one-day races  | World Cycling Championship

|
|
|
|
|

Overall Classement
1  | 100  | 85  | 50  | 40  | 50
2  | 75  | 65  | 40  | 30  | 40
3  | 60  | 50  | 35  | 25  | 35
4  | 55  | 45  | 30  | 20  |
5  | 50  | 40  | 25  | 15  |
6  | 45  | 35  | 20  | 11  |
7  | 40  | 30  | 15  | 7  |
8  | 35  | 26  | 10  | 5  |
9  | 30  | 22  | 5  | 3  |
10  | 25  | 19  | 1  | 1  |
11  | 20  | 16  |  |  |
12  | 15  | 13  |  |  |
13  | 12  | 11  |  |  |
14  | 9  | 9  |  |  |
15  | 7  | 7  |  |  |
16  | 5  | 5  |  |  |
17  | 4  | 4  |  |  |
18  | 3  | 3  |  |  |
19  | 2  | 2  |  |  |
20  | 1  | 1  |  |  |
Stage wins (if applicable)
1  | 3  | 3  | 1  |  |
2  | 2  | 2  |  |  |
3  | 1  | 1  |  |  |

### 2005 ProTour Individual Rankings

[edit]

| Rider  | Team  | Points

|
|
|

1  |  Danilo Di Luca (ITA) | Liquigas–Bianchi | 229
2  |  Tom Boonen (BEL) | Quick-Step–Innergetic | 171
3  |  Davide Rebellin (ITA) | Gerolsteiner | 151
4  |  Jan Ullrich (GER) | T-Mobile Team | 140
5  |  Lance Armstrong (USA) | Discovery Channel | 139
6  |  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) | T-Mobile Team | 136
7  |  Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Gerolsteiner | 131
8  |  Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Innergetic | 130
9  |  Bobby Julich (USA) | Team CSC | 130
10  |  George Hincapie (USA) | Discovery Channel | 129
11  |  Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) | Fassa Bortolo | 128
12  |  Gilberto Simoni (ITA) | Lampre–Caffita | 111
13  |  Fränk Schleck (LUX) | Team CSC | 110
14  |  Denis Menchov (RUS) | Rabobank | 109
15  |  Francisco Mancebo (ESP) | Illes Balears–Caisse d'Epargne | 107

### Team Rankings

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| Team  | Points

|
|

1  |  Team CSC | 390
2  |  Phonak | 353
3  |  Rabobank | 349
4  |  Davitamon–Lotto | 322
5  |  Liberty Seguros–Würth | 320
6  |  Gerolsteiner | 303
7  |  Saunier Duval–Prodir | 293
8  |  Discovery Channel | 274
9  |  Crédit Agricole | 264
10  |  Illes Balears–Caisse d'Epargne | 262
11  |  Cofidis | 258
12  |  Quick-Step–Innergetic | 253
13  |  Fassa Bortolo | 245
14  |  T-Mobile Team | 244
15  |  Liquigas–Bianchi | 228
16  |  Lampre–Caffita | 211
17  |  Bouygues Télécom | 183
18  |  Domina Vacanze | 161
19  |  Euskaltel–Euskadi | 147
20  |  Française des Jeux | 130

Team classification winner got 20 points, second 19, third 18 etc. Wildcard teams didn't score points, but ProTour teams didn't move up either. For example, no team received 20 points in Vuelta as team competition was won by Comunidad Valenciana.

### 2005 ProTour Nation Rankings

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| Country  | Points

|
|

1  |  Italy | 749
2  |  United States | 559
3  |  Spain | 459
4  |  Germany | 405
5  |  Australia | 307
6  |  Belgium | 304
7  |  Netherlands | 280
8  |  Luxembourg | 191
9  |  France | 163
10  |  Russia | 153
11  |  Kazakhstan | 144
12  |  Switzerland | 131
13  |  Colombia | 119
14  |  Ukraine | 101
15  |  Denmark | 97
16  |  Norway | 72
17  |  Sweden | 67
18  |  Austria | 62
19  |  Slovenia | 53
20  |  Czech Republic | 15
21  |  New Zealand | 7
22  |  Estonia | 3
23  |  Croatia | 1

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website

* v
* t
* e

2005 UCI ProTour

* Paris–Nice
* Tirreno–Adriatico
* Milan–San Remo
* Tour of Flanders
* Tour of the Basque Country
* Gent–Wevelgem
* Paris–Roubaix
* Amstel Gold Race
* La Flèche Wallonne
* Liège–Bastogne–Liège
* Tour de Romandie
* Giro d'Italia
* Volta a Catalunya
* Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
* Tour de Suisse
* Eindhoven TTT
* Tour de France
* HEW Cyclassics
* Eneco Tour
* Clásica de San Sebastián
* Deutschland Tour
* Vuelta a España
* GP Ouest-France
* Tour de Pologne
* Road World Championships
* Züri-Metzgete
* Paris–Tours
* Giro di Lombardia

* v
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UCI ProTour

Seasons|

* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* Merged into the UCI World Tour

Races|

* Tour Down Under
* Tour of Flanders
* Tour of the Basque Country
* Gent–Wevelgem
* Amstel Gold Race
* Tour de Romandie
* Volta a Catalunya
* Critérium du Dauphiné
* Tour de Suisse
* Clásica de San Sebastián
* Eneco Tour
* GP Ouest-France
* Deutschland Tour
* Vattenfall Cyclassics
* Tour de Pologne
* Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
* Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

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2005 in road cycling (men, women)

* UCI ProTour
* UCI Women's Road World Cup

* UCI Road World Championships
* Pan American Championships
* National road cycling championships

* UCI Continental Circuits: UCI Africa Tour
* UCI America Tour
* UCI Asia Tour
* UCI Europe Tour
* UCI Oceania Tour

* UCI Teams: UCI ProTeams
* UCI Professional Continental and Continental teams
* UCI Women's Teams

*[ITA]: Italy
*[USA]: United States
*[ESP]: Spain
*[BEL]: Belgium
*[KAZ]: Kazakhstan
*[COL]: Colombia
*[UKR]: Ukraine
*[LUX]: Luxembourg
*[GER]: Germany
*[RUS]: Russia
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