Alpecin Phoenix and Arkea Samsic are likely to be invited to the full calendar of WorldTour races in 2021 after topping the latest edition of the UCI European Tour Rankings released by the UCI on Tuesday.

The Vuelta a España is the only major race left in the 2020 season, with no races in Spain for both teams, and the invited pro teams Total Direct Energies, Caja Rural Seguros RGA, and Burgos-BH are behind in the rankings Therefore, the ranking of both teams is almost certain.

Alpecin Phoenix leads the standings with 4,788 points, while Arkea-Samsic is in second place with 3,697 points.

Under UCI regulations (2.1.007), organizers of Grand Tour and WorldTour stage races are obliged to invite the top two professional teams when the number of world teams reaches 18. 2020 will see 19 WorldTour teams, and only Total Direct Energy would have received a full invitation.

At this time, the World Tour will likely return to 18 teams for the 2021 season, the CCC team has been replaced by Circus Wantigobert, and NTT Pro Cycling is in danger of disbanding with no new sponsorship deal imminent.

Alpecin Phoenix and Arkea Samsic will be invited to all WorldTour stage races, and Mathieu Van der Pol will make his Tour de France debut. Both teams will be invited to all WorldTour one-day races regardless of the fate of the NTT.

The Belgian team, which was a continental team until two seasons ago, has won the Tour of Flanders (600 points), BinckBank Tour (400 points), Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Ghent-Wevelgem, and Il Lombardia (360 points) Thanks to Van der Pol for his 2,040 points, including top 10 finishes in.

Tim Mellier (745 points), Gianni Vermersch (499 points), and Alexander Krieger (386 points) also contributed significantly to the team's final points haul. Alpecin Phoenix has already begun strengthening for 2021, acquiring four new members, including Yasper Philippsen from UAE Team Emirates and Xandro Moulisse from Circus Wantigover.

Meanwhile, France's Arkea Samsic, with star riders Nairo Quintana (865 points), Warren Barguil (865 points), and Nasser Bouhani (744 points), is already assured of an invitation to the Tour de France and major races organized by ASO The team has already been invited to the Tour de France and other major races sponsored by ASO. However, if NTT withdraws at the end of the season, he could still enter the Giro d'Italia or the Vuelta a España.