In the lead up to some posts previewing La Vuelta (currently awaiting some teams to confirm their starting riders), I thought I'd investigate which nation currently ranks as the best in terms of producing Cycling Talent - with the rankings being formed using points differentials relative to riders' respective results in 2018 races.
I hope you enjoy the read!
#1 | 
Notable Riders;
Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) - 1802 pts
Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) - 945 pts
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) - 846 pts
Not overly surprising when you think of all the recent wins coming from Italian riders; Viviani with the Hamburg Cyclassics on the weekend, Manuel Belletti with the Tour of Hongrie & Matteo Trentin taking the European Championships Road Race last week.
Previously ranked 2nd, recently knocked Belgium off the top spot.
#2 | 
Notable Riders;
Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) - 1302 pts
Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors) - 971 pts
Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) - 820 pts
Such a strong cycling nation that keeps on getting stronger. Tom Dumoulin will probably end up winning a grand tour and with such a promising sprinter in Dylan Groenewegen they're definitely knocking on that top spot.
Previously ranked 4th and have risen 2 places.
#3 | 
Notable Riders;
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - 1863 pts
Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) - 874 pts
Mikel Landa (Movistar) - 866 pts
With Alejandro Valverde starting to be on his last legs, and a few others too (e.g. the Izagirre brothers), I think it'll be quite likely that the Spaniards will start to see themselves falling down in the rankings in the immediate future.
#4 | 
Notable Riders:
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) - 1512 pts
Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) - 1227 pts
Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) - 1100 pts
The French have always been close to or in the top 5 of the rankings and it will probably remain that way. Julian Alaphilippe produces a lot of their points and the young Frenchman is only just realising his potential at Quick-Step Floors; he'll definitely be a Grand Tour winner in the future!
Previously ranked 5th, have risen 1 place.
#5 | 
Notable Riders:
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) - 1269 pts
Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) - 1259 pts
Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) - 813 pts
Not very many out-and-out GC riders coming from the Belgians, but with such strong Classics pedigree that's why they're ranked where they are. Currently having quite a big decline which we could see continuing throughout the rest of the season.
Previously ranked 1st, have fallen 4 places.
#6 | 
Notable Riders:
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) - 1652 pts
Chris Froome (Team Sky) - 1308 pts
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) - 1267 pts
Apart from Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), GB has no-one else ranked within the top 100 than the above three. Individually, GB have some future legends of the sport but collectively they're not one of the best Cycling nations.
Previously ranked 7th, up 1 place.
#7 | 
Notable Riders:
Egan Bernal (Team Sky) - 1054 pts
Nario Quintana (Movistar) - 984 pts
Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) - 979 pts
Such a promising nation that has taken a historic rise after being ranked 22nd in 2010 and never having been inside the top 10 until 2013. With Egan Bernal showing us all that he could undoubtedly be Team Sky's next GC-man, I think we'll see Colombia rising a few more places.
Previously ranked 6th, down 1 place.
#8 | 
Notable Riders:
Jakob Fulgsang (Astana Pro Team) - 999 pts
Michael Valgren (Astana Pro Team) - 782 pts
Magnus Cort-Nielsen (Astana Pro Team) - 634 pts
Some solid riders put Denmark into a highly respectable 8th place, but probably won't see any future rise with Jakob Fulgsang not strong enough to win a Grand Tour and his compatriots unlikely to cause any major drama.
Previously ranked 12th, up 4 places.
#9 | 
Notable Riders:
Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) - 834 pts
Richie Porte (BMC Racing) - 756 pts
Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) - 668 pts
Definitely would be ranked higher if Richie Porte wasn't as unlucky as he is. I think we could see Australia moving up the rankings if either Rohan Dennis or Richie Porte can do well in a Grand Tour, and with future stars like Jack Haig, Damien Howson, Rob Power, etc. coming through the ranks it might be inevitable.
Previously ranked 8th, down 1 place.
#10 | 
Notable Riders:
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) - 755 pts
Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) - 726 pts
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) - 625 pts
Germany produces undoubtedly the most sprinters out of any of these countries and their 3 best-ranked riders are unsurprisingly sprinters. Lots of German track riders end up converting over to Road so their sprinting pedigree will continue long into the future!
Previously ranked 9th, down 1 place.