Great Britain's Lizzie Deignan became the fifth rider in as many years to win the overall classification,[5] amassing a tally of 1622.33 points for Trek–Segafredo. Deignan won consecutive races in August at the GP de Plouay and La Course by Le Tour de France,[6][7] before adding a season-high third victory at Liège–Bastogne–Liège.[8] Deignan finished 55 points clear of her Trek–Segafredo team mate Elisa Longo Borghini;[5] Longo Borghini failed to win any overall classifications, recording a best finish of second place at the season-ending Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta.[9] She also finished in third place at the Giro Rosa,[10] and had six other top-ten finishes during the season. Lisa Brennauer of Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling finished third in the overall classification with 1424.67 points, after recording podium finishes in three of the season's final four races: third at Gent–Wevelgem,[11] second at the Three Days of Bruges–De Panne,[12] and victory at the Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta.[9] From the 11 individual events, a total of 8 riders won races while the World Tour lead was held during the season by Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb), Deignan and Anna van der Breggen (Boels–Dolmans), who was the only other rider to win multiple races, at the Giro Rosa and La Flèche Wallonne.[10][13]
With 28 points, Lippert was the winner of the youth classification for riders under the age of 23. Lippert led the classification from start to finish,[5] having scored points in each of the first seven races on the schedule, including her overall victory at the season-opening Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – the only race to be held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced stoppage of racing.[14] Second place in the standings went to Mikayla Harvey with 22 points, who won the classification 3 times during the season, however her season was cut short following the disbandment of Équipe Paule Ka due to financial issues.[15]Lorena Wiebes (Team Sunweb), the defending champion of the classification, finished third, following victories in each of the final two races. For the first time, Trek–Segafredo won the teams classification, with a total of 4380.98 points and Deignan's three victories. Second place went to Boels–Dolmans, the previous winners of the classification in each of the first four years of the UCI Women's World Tour, with 3177.02 points and four victories – van der Breggen's pair of victories, Jolien D'Hoore's win at Gent–Wevelgem,[11] while Chantal van den Broek-Blaak won the Tour of Flanders.[16] Team Sunweb completed the final top three with 2876.98 points and the two victories earned by Wiebes (Three Days of Bruges–De Panne)[12] and Lippert. Other than Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling, Mitchelton–Scott were the other team to win during 2020 with Annemiek van Vleuten's victory at Strade Bianche.[17]
Events
For the 2020 season, the calendar consisted of 21 races, down from 23 in 2019.[1] The RideLondon Classique lost its place in the Women's World Tour due to scheduling conflicts resulting from the Olympic races,[18] and the Emakumeen Euskal Bira and Tour of California was cancelled due to financial pressures.[19]
On 5 May 2020, a revised calendar was announced by the UCI, with 18 races to be held between 1 August and 8 November, including the introduction of a women's Paris–Roubaix.[33][34] In June, in line with the men's race, the Tour of Guangxi was moved from 20 October to 10 November.[3]
Three events that were initially postponed in the first half of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were not able to rescheduled during the season; these were the Ronde van Drenthe due to be held on 15 March,[24] the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio due to be held on 2 June (initially 22 March),[23][35] and The Women's Tour due to be held from 8 to 13 June.[36]
For the 2020 season, a revised point-scoring system was introduced by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). As had been the case since 2018, the top 40 riders in each race accumulated points towards the individual and team rankings.[42] Instead of receiving 200 points, each race winner received 400 points, 320 points were given for a runner-up placing, 260 points for third place and so forth down to 8 points for finishes between 31st and 40th.[42] There were also tweaks to the stage points and points for wearing the leader's jersey in stage races.[42]
Riders tied with the same number of points were classified by number of victories, then number of second places, third places, and so on, in World Tour events and stages.
The top three riders in the final results of each World Tour event's young rider classification received points towards the standings. Six points were awarded to first place, four points to second place and two points to third place.
^ abcKnöfler, Lukas (8 November 2020). "Brennauer wins Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 8 November 2020. The leader of the UCI Women's WorldTour, Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), was not racing herself but had enough of a lead to win the ranking ahead of teammate Longo Borghini. Lippert won the Women's WorldTour U23 ranking, wearing the light blue jersey from the first race of the season to the last.
^"Geen koers tot en met drie april, Ronde van Vlaanderen maakt nog een waterkansje maar houdt rekening met annulering" [No race until 3 April, Tour of Flanders still has a remote chance but takes cancellation into account]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Mediahuis. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020. We besluiten bij deze om onze wedstrijd Driedaagse Brugge De Panne ook uit te stellen naar een later tijdstip. We hopen dat we een plaatsje krijgen op de kalender in het najaar. [We hereby decide to postpone our match Three Days Bruges De Panne to a later date. We hope that we will have a place on the calendar in the autumn].
^"Alle sportactiviteiten in België tot en met 3 april worden geannuleerd" [All sports activities in Belgium until 3 April will be canceled]. Sporza (in Dutch). Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020. In het wielrennen worden Nokere Koerse (18 maart), de Bredene Koksijde Classic (20 maart), de Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (25 maart), de E3 Harelbeke (27 maart), Gent-Wevelgem (29 maart) en Dwars door Vlaanderen (1 april) geschrapt. [In cycling Nokere Koerse (March 18), the Bredene Koksijde Classic (March 20), the Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (March 25), the E3 Harelbeke (March 27), Ghent-Wevelgem (March 29) and Dwars door Vlaanderen (April 1) are scrapped.]
^Ryan, Barry (17 March 2020). "Paris-Roubaix, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège postponed due to coronavirus pandemic". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 17 March 2020. As part of the fight against the spread of Coronavirus (COVID19), Amaury Sport Organisation, with the agreement of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has decided to not organise Paris-Roubaix (12th April), the Flèche Wallonne and the Flèche Wallonne Women (22nd April) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Women (26th April) races on their scheduled dates.
^"Tour of Flanders cancelled over coronavirus concerns". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020. Organisers of the Tour of Flanders made the long-anticipated decision to cancel their April 5 race, saying they will work with the UCI and representatives of the teams and riders to look at the potential for scheduling a new date later this year.
