The 2008 UCI ProTour is the fourth year of the UCI ProTour system. Following protracted disagreement between the organisers of the Grand Tours (ASO, RCS and Unipublic) and the UCI, all races organized by ASO, RCS and Unipublic were withdrawn from the ProTour calendar. This removed all three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España), four of the five monuments (Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia) and four further races (Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, La Flèche Wallonne and Paris–Tours). As such, the quality of the races of the ProTour was diminished. The Australian race, the Tour Down Under was added to the calendar, making it the first race outside Europe on the ProTour (although races had previously been held outside Europe as part of the UCI Road World Cup).
The highly successful ceased operations at the end of the 2007 season. Johan Bruyneel signed on to become the directeur sportif and revamp the embattled ; joining him are 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and 2007 Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer. Other major signings included American George Hincapie moving to and Daniele Bennati from to , while Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca left Liguigas for the UCI Professional Continental team .
2008 UCI ProTour races As of September 28, 2008. DatesRaceWinnerProTour leader22–27 January Tour Down Under()()6 April Tour of Flanders()7–12 April Vuelta al País Vasco()9 April Gent–Wevelgem()20 April Amstel Gold Race()()29 April–4 May Tour de Romandie()19–25 May Volta a Catalunya()8–15 June Dauphiné Libéré()()14–22 June Tour de Suisse()()2 August Clásica de San Sebastián()()20–27 August / Eneco Tour of Benelux()25 August GP Ouest-France()29 August–6 September Deutschland Tour()7 September Vattenfall Cyclassics()15–21 September Tour de Pologne()
Teams As of 6 December 6, 2007
CodeOfficial Team NameCountryWebsite ALM AST BTL GCE COF C.A CSC SIL EUS FDJ GST LAM LIQ MRM QST RAB SDV THR
Unibet.com Cycling Team, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application renewal by the November 20, 2007 deadline.
Individual standings RankNameTeamPoints112321043964945856627608589541050
107 riders have scored at least one point on the 2008 UCI ProTour.
Team standings RankTeamNationalityPoints1 1472 1453 1264 1145 1116 1097 1088 1079 10510 10211 10212 9513 7614 9415 9316 7317 6318 54
Nation standings RankNationPoints1336223731984155514761137948949801086
Riders from 23 nations have scored at least one point on the 2008 UCI ProTour.
2008 ProTour Points System PlaceTour Down UnderTour of FlandersVuelta Ciclista al Pais VascoTour de RomandieVolta Ciclista a CatalunyaCritérium du Dauphiné LibéréTour de SuisseDeutschland TourEneco TourTour de PologneGent–WevelgemAmstel Gold RaceVattenfall CyclassicsClasica Ciclista San SebastianGP Quest France-PlouayEindhoven Team Time TrialOverall Classification1st5040102nd403093rd352584th302075th251566th201157th15748th10539th53210th211Stage wins (if applicable)1st32nd23rd1
If a rider is not part of UCI ProTour, no points are given. The points corresponding to the place are not awarded Top 20 teams get points in scale 20-19-18...1. Team time trials in stage races doesn't give points for riders. In Eindhoven time trial rider has to finish to earn points. In country ranking, top 5 riders of each country count towards the ranking.
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