Who's at risk? UCI relegation battle update after the Tour de France

At the end of the Tour de France, the UCI WorldTour relegation battle is starting to become clearer. There were big winners and losers from the epic three weeks of racing around France, and with the Vuelta a España next on the horizon, it's getting closer to the last chance saloon to gain significant points. 

We take a look at the current situation and how the Tour de France has affected the teams who are currently in and around the relegation zone. The top 18 teams will secure WorldTour status for 2026.

Full UCI rankings can be found via the links below:

• UCI ranking Men
• UCI ranking Women
• UCI ranking Teams Men
• UCI ranking Teams Women

Following a solid Giro d'Italia, Picnic PostNL continued to build upon their momentum with a strong showing from Oscar Onley at the Tour de Suisse. 

However, the 22-year-old reached a whole new level at the Tour de France with a truly sensational performance, and it has catapulted the Dutch team into a very positive trajectory, almost certain of a WorldTour spot for 2026. Onley became the youngest British rider to finish in the top 10 at the Tour de France, claiming 4th after being locked in a battle with Florian Lipowitz for the 3rd spot on the podium and white jersey. 

Along the way, Onley claimed eight top 10 stage finishes and even was able to follow the moves of Pogačar and Vingegaard on occasion. Many were aware of the talent of Onley, but this Tour was a major breakthrough performance which established him as an elite rider, and arguably the best out of any of the teams who feature on this relegation battle list.

Beyond Onley, there were more strong stage results with a 2nd place for Frank van den Broek from the breakaway on stage 20, and two top 6 finishes each for Tobias Lund Andresen and Pavel Bittner, respectively.

The team now sit in 16th in the rankings, 2092 points clear of Cofidis in 19th and with the current momentum will only be looking forward. After two successful grand tours so far in 2025, the Dutch team will be looking to deliver a positive Vuelta a España as they build for a positive future.

Earlier in the season, XDS's Astana's remarkable turnaround in fortunes was one of the hottest topics in the sport. At the start of the season, it felt inevitable that the team were on the verge of relegation, but rather than sink and accept their fate, XDS Astana rallied together and gave themselves a seriously strong fighting chance of survival.

Whilst they are currently no longer in immediate danger, it's fair to say that their momentum has faded after a relatively quiet Tour de France. 

From a stage hunting perspective, Davide Ballerini gave a good account of himself, finishing 10th on stage 11 and 5th on stage 17, before fighting to 2nd on the final classics-style stage in Paris behind Wout van Aert. There were also top ten stage finishes for Yevgeniy Fedorov, Simone Velasco and Mike Teunissen.

In the general classification, Sergio Higuita showed signs of a return to his old self, flying under the radar to secure 14th overall. The team now sit on 25,621 points in 17th, 2,064 ahead of Cofidis.

Whilst the race wasn't a total disaster, it also wasn't a very successful race overall, and the team will be hoping for a Vuelta a España similar to the Giro d'Italia, where they did a 1-2 on stage 16 with Christian Scaroni and Lorenzo Fortunato, and the same feat in the mountains classification but in the swapped order.

Intermarché-Wanty didn't reach the dazzling heights of the 2024 Tour, where Biniam Girmay starred, winning three stages and the points classification. 

From a points perspective, the Belgian team relied once more on the sprinting prowess of their Eritrean star as the only rider in the team to finish in the top 10 of a stage, but even Girmay failed to leave the same impact on the race as he did twelve months ago

However, he was still able to score some valuable points for the team, mixing it up in some sprints, with three top 10 stage finishes, including a 2nd place on the opening stage. As well as this, Girmay's commitment to defending his green jersey saw him end third in the points classification, meaning that he still proved to be a key asset from a points scoring standpoint, despite a relatively quiet race for himself and the team.

The rumours of a potential merger between Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto threaten to impact the relegation battle significantly, and it makes things a bit more uncertain and clear when it comes to which teams will be WorldTour next season. However, as things currently stand, Intermarché-Wanty sit 18th on 25,028 points, 1,471 ahead of Cofidis in 19th.

Before the Tour de France kicked off in Lille, it felt as though Cofidis were starting to slip through the trap door. A lack of momentum left the team in a precarious situation, needing to replicate a performance at their home grand tour in the vein of 2023 when they won two stages via Victor Lafay and Ion Izagirre. However, they didn't get that, and instead it was a Tour to forget for Cofidis.

They were statistically the worst-performing team in the race, with little to write home about, achieving two top 10 stage finishes and receiving the least amount of prize money out of all the teams.

It seems that the main hope right now for Cofidis is that the potential merger between Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto comes to fruition, which may give them the 18th and final spot in the WorldTour for 2026, but they will need to have a stronger ending to the season, with Uno-X Mobility only just over 300 points behind. Cofidis will also have an advantage in that sense as Uno-X won't be at the Vuelta a España, where there will be plenty of points on offer, but the French team’s form needs to improve significantly as Uno-X are consistently delivering.

Uno-X Mobility are the only team in the list who aren't currently at threat of relegation, because they aren't even a WorldTour team yet, so in fact they are in a promotion battle.

However, based on the way they have operated in 2025, you could be very easily forgiven for thinking the Scandinavian team is at the WorldTour level already.

The Tour de France was another illustration of where Uno-X Mobility are heading, with a historic first grand tour stage for the team via the combative Jonas Abrahamsen, which was even more remarkable considering he had broken his collarbone less than three weeks before the start in Lille.

Tobias Halland Johannessen backed up a strong showing from the Dauphiné to realise his potential as a former Tour de l'Avenir winner with an impressive 6th place finish in the general classification.

In the opening 10 stages, there were two top 10 finishes in sprints for Stian Fredheim as well as for Søren Wærenskjold, who finished 3rd on stage 1 and 4th on stage 3. Anders Halland Johannessen also finished 7th on stage 10 on Bastille Day after a combative race throughout, as well as supporting his brother in the general classification.

The team will miss out on the opportunity to score plenty of points at the Vuelta a España, and this could impact their chances of making the WorldTour for 2026, but regardless of what happens, it's safe to say that Uno-X Mobility are heading in the right direction. As it stands, Uno-X Mobility are in 20th place, 1,799 points behind Intermarché-Wanty, who currently occupy the final WorldTour spot in 18th.

However, if the merger between Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto (who sit 12th), the final WorldTour spot should theoretically drop to 19th place, and Uno-X are only 328 points behind Cofidis, although with the team not invited to the Vuelta, their chances are reduced but you can’t write this team off.

Arkéa-B&B Hotels are still at risk of extinction by 2026, and are almost certain to be relegated, even if they can find the sponsors needed for next season. 

Currently sitting on 21,638 points, the French team are in 21st place and finds themselves 3,390 points behind Intermarché-Wanty, who currently occupy the final WorldTour spot in 18th place.

However, despite the severe problems surrounding the team at the moment, there was a flicker of light at the Tour de France, and that came courtesy of the gutsy performance from Kévin Vauquelin.

The 24-year-old was one of the stars of the race, thriving on home roads in the hilly opening week, before resiliently battling in the mountains among the top climbers to place 7th in the general classification. Along with this, Vauquelin claimed five top 10 stage results and placed 3rd in the youth standings, rounding out a very successful race. It's safe to say that even if Arkéa-B&B Hotels don't have a future in the WorldTour, Vauquelin certainly does. 

Amaury Capiot and Cristián Rodríguez also landed a top ten stage result, and the latter provided good support for Vauquelin in the mountains, as well as finishing 20th in the GC, along with fellow Spaniard Raúl García Pierna, who finished 26th.