UCI points update: Visma closes in on UAE as Picnic PostNL looks doomed

First, let’s take a look at the Giro.

Unsurprisingly, Visma | Lease a Bike came away with the most points, thanks to Jonas Vingegaard’s overall victory and no fewer than six stage wins. The other teams near the top are largely those built around the main GC contenders, including Felix Gall’s Decathlon CMA CGM Team, Derek Gee’s Lidl-Trek, Thymen Arensman’s Netcompany Ineos and Jai Hindley’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

That makes sense. The general classification offers the biggest points haul, but Visma’s aggressive approach also played a major role. By controlling the mountain stages and giving breakaways little room, the GC contenders were able to score heavily in the stages as well.

Of course, the teams at the top of the standings did not rely solely on their GC leaders. Jonathan Milan and Giulio Ciccone also brought in plenty of points for Lidl-Trek, while Netcompany Ineos could count on Filippo Ganna in the time trials.

One striking result is UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s relatively low position, despite taking four stage wins. This can largely be explained by their disastrous start to the race, when Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler were all forced out after a crash. From that point on, the Emirati team had to change its approach and shift its focus towards stage wins.

At the bottom of the table, Picnic PostNL carries the red lantern with just 67 points. To put that into perspective, here is what a single lower top ten result in a stage is worth in UCI points:

6th place: 45 points / 7th place: 40 points / 8th place: 35 points / 9th place: 30 points / 10th place: 25 points

So if that is what you can score in just one stage, it underlines just how catastrophic Picnic PostNL’s 2026 Giro really was.

Looking at the UCI points standings for the season so far, a familiar picture emerges. UAE Team Emirates-XRG lead the ranking, with Visma | Lease a Bike in pursuit. The top four remains relatively close, with Red Bull and Decathlon still within reach of UAE and Visma, especially compared with the past two seasons.

XDS Astana are continuing their strong run from last year, while Pinarello-Q36.5 are the highest-ranked ProTeam in 14th place, with Cofidis close behind.

One striking detail is, once again, the position of Picnic PostNL. The Dutch WorldTour team currently sit only 30th in the standings and, for now, have no fewer than 11 ProTeams ranked ahead of them.

Beyond the position itself, the points total is also a cause for concern. Picnic PostNL have collected just 1,311 points so far, leaving them with a sizeable gap to Lotto-Intermarché, who are already on 4,678 points. And while this is, of course, a three-year cycle, it is already starting to look like an almost impossible task for Picnic PostNL.