Columbia Vidaraid (609 points) and Seagate (550 points) hold off challengers to maintain their number 1 and 2 rankings respectively, while Tecnu Adventure Racing (513 points) moves into the top 3 in the world for the first time.
This recent update of the Adventure Racing World Rankings includes results from Expedition Alaska in June, Cameco Cowboy Tough in July, XPD Expedition Race in August and Raid in France in September.
USA team Tecnu Adventure Racing have been consistent performers in the top 10 for a number of years, and this cycle they have built on their 4th place at the 2014 AR World Championship (158 points) with two consecutive wins at Qualifier qualifiers, Expedition Alaska (100 points) and the Cameco Cowboy Tough (100 points), to climb one rung higher on the ladder.
The French 400 Team Raidlight had two good results this cycle including winning the Raid in France (100 points) and placing 4th at XPD Australia (63 points) to climb two places higher into 6th position. This team will be looking for something special at the AR World Championship to boost their ranking higher than 6th and team adidas TERREX are firmly in their sights. To their credit, there are few other teams who have remained as consistent as Raidlight, have ranked in previous cycles 8th, 7th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 8th, 8th.
Merrell Adventure Addicts from South Africa have moved up from 11th to 7th, one ranking behind 400 Team Raidlight, showing their experience at the recent XPD in Australia flying through the last third of the course to take second place and 85 points.
While Tecnu Adventure racing won both the North American Qualifiers this cycle, close behind them were team USA Yoga Slackers taking out second in both these events and moving up into a 9th ranking. This is the first time that Yoga Slackers have cracked the top 10 and they will definitely be a team to watch in Brazil.
Moving outside the top ten the next 5 teams (ranked 11th – 15th) are incredibly close – separated by only 12 points! R’ADYS Switzerland (188 points) gaining the best result this cycle with 4th place (63 points) at Raid in France and ranking 11th. Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team are equal 11th as well, followed by Haglofs Silva, Movistar and Arverne Outdoor.
Sweden remains the powerhouse of adventure racing, fielding 4 teams in the top 20. New Zealand, France and the USA each have three teams in the top 20.
Coming up in November will be the annual AR World Championship which should see quite a shakeup of the world rankings. The AR World Rankings count a team’s four best results over the previous two years or racing. At any one time they will include points from the two previous AR World Championship events, and given the 2.5x rating for the championship, it is critical for a team to perform well at these events. As the ARWC 2015 Brazil results will be counted next cycle, the team results from the ARWC 2013 Costa Rica will drop off the list, cleaning out the cobwebs so to speak! Eight of the top 10 teams in the world will be racing in Brazil knowing how important this result will be, a good result helping keep them high in the rankings, a poor results dragging them down.
For more information on the AR World Rankings and a detailed list of all AR World Ranked teams, please visit http://www.arworldseries.com/rankings.htm
1 – Columbia Vidaraid – 609
2 – Seagate – 550
3 – Tecnu Adventure Racing – 513
4 – France Green Caffte Costa Rica – 473
5 – adidas TERREX – 407
6 – 400 Team Raidlight – 352
7 – Merrell Adventure Addicts – 323
8 – Peak Performance – 296
9 – Yoga Slackers – 285
10 – Bivouac Inov-8 – 210
11 – R’ADYS Team Switzerland – 188
11 – Swedish Armed Forces Adventure – 188
13 – Haglöfs Silva – 185
14 – Ecuador Movistar – 182
15 – Arverne Outdoor – 176
16 – Sweco Adventure – 150
17 – BMS Multisport – 198
18 – QuasarLontra Kailash – 112
19 – DART Nuun – 108
20 – Chimpanzee Bar – 105