The World Cup was made up of ten one-day races chosen from the classics. Riders accumulated points based on finishing positions across various events, with scoring for individuals and teams. In the years of the competition, points were awarded to the top 25 finishers in each round, ranging from 100 points for the winner to 1 point for 25th place. The rider leading the overall standings wore a distinctive jersey for subsequent events.
Following the 2004 season, the competition was discontinued. It was replaced by the UCI ProTour and the UCI Continental Circuits, which began in 2005.
The UCI Road World Cup was introduced in 1989 which replaced the former season-long cup, the Super Prestige Pernod International. The competition initially featured a set of one-day races that collectively formed an annual calendar of races. In the first three years, the competition was sponsored by Perrier. Both an individual overall winner and a team winner were determined each season.
The final time trial (1990–1993) was an invitation event. Those invited were: the single Cup race winners, the first 10 of the general classification before the last race, the first 10 in the World Ranking, and the reigning World Champion. If any declined their invitation, the highest ranked in the World Cup yet to be invited were invited in their place.[1]
In 1992, the Grand Prix de la Liberation was removed from the series. In the sea year, the Grand Prix of the Americas was renamed to the Grand Prix Téléglobe, before being removed as a World Cup event the following year. That same year the final time trial was replaced by the Grand Prix des Nations, which took place in Palma de Mallorca. In 1993, the Grand Prix des Nations was held at Lac de Madine, before being removed from the competition the following year. In 1994, the Wincanton Classic became the Leeds International Classic.
In 1995, the Frankfurt Grand Prix was included as an event for that year only. Likewise, the Japan Cup was introduced only in the 1996 season.
In 1997, the Leeds International Classic was renamed the Rochester Classic. The following year it was replaced by the HEW Cyclassics in Hamburg.
From 1998 onward, the World Cup calendar stabilised around 10 events:
The record for most overall wins is held by Paolo Bettini for his three consecutive wins in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Maurizio Fondriest (1991 and 1993), Johan Museeuw (1995 and 1996) and Michele Bartoli (1997 and 1998) won the competition twice. Mapei had the most team wins (5).
Points distribution
Individual
Points are awarded for the best riders in each race according to the following scale:
From 1997-2004, a rider had to participate in at least six races to be considered in the final scoring.
Teams
For team scoring, the places of the first three riders of each team were added together. The team with the lowest total received 12 points, the second team received nine, the third team received eight, and so on until the tenth team scored a single point.
From 1997-2004, a team had to participate in at least eight races to be considered in the final scoring.
Races
An X corresponds to a race that was held. Races with a grey background were not part of the World Cup that year.
After each race, the points each rider gained was added to their total. A special rainbow jersey was then presented to the leading rider in the overall ranking of the World Cup. He was obliged to wear this jersey in the following World Cup races as long as he held the lead in the overall standings. The jersey was issued for the first time in 1990. It retained the same core design with minor modifications of logos and colors. Only in the first World Cup was a grey-yellow jersey awarded to the leader instead of the later rainbow scheme.[7][8][9][10][11]
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Paolo Bettini (ITA) (3)
