Chris Froome overtakes Tom Simpson in Cycling Weekly's All-Time British Ranking

With his stage 10 victory and continued position in the yellow jersey of race leader at the Tour de France, Chris Froome (Sky) has now overtaken Tom Simpson to move up to fourth place in Cycling Weekly's All-Time Ranking of British road riders.

The ranking was devised in order to compare the performances of British male road riders from different eras, with points awarded for high placings in races and time spent in the race lead. The more difficult and prestigious the race, the more points are awarded.

Froome sits in fourth place, ahead of Simpson in fifth. Aside from this year's Tour performance, Froome won the 2013 edition of the race, finished second overall in the 2012 edition, and also some of the world's most prestigious stage races including the Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de Romandie.

Sprinter Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) tops the CW ranking by a large margin, and has added to his tally with a victory on stage seven of this year's Tour. Cavendish has 133 professional wins to date, more than any other British rider in history. It's highly likely he will add to this in the very near future.

In second place is Robert Millar, the Scottish climber who won stages in all three Grand Tours and took the mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the 1980s, as well as finishing fourth overall in the 1984 Tour and second overall in the 1987 Giro.

Third is Sir Bradley Wiggins, who amassed a huge and unprecedented haul of victories in 2012 including the Tour de France, Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné and Olympic time trial gold. His collection of Olympic and world titles since 2000 could be augmented as Wiggins aims for the 2016 Games in Rio.

Froome only needs to spend a further few days in the Tour de France race lead to eclipse Wiggins's score in our ranking. Overall victory in the Tour could see Froome move up to second place behind Cavendish.

Simpson was a pioneer in British cycling in the 1950s and 1960s, the first of his nation to wear the yellow jersey of Tour de France leader and the first to win the road race world championships. He also counts victories in the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Nice, Tour of Lombardy and Milan-San Remo in his palmares. He won two stages of the Vuelta a España in 1967, but tragically died riding up Mont Ventoux in that year's Tour de France.

Cycling Weekly's All-Time Ranking Top 10

Updated on July 14 2015

1. Mark Cavendish 3,550 points
Pro: 2007-present
2. Robert Millar 2,900 points

Pro: 1980-1995

3. Bradley Wiggins 2,710 points

Pro: 2002-present

4. Chris Froome 2,640 points

Pro: 2007-present

5. Tom Simpson 2,545 points

Pro: 1958-1967

6. Chris Boardman 1,965 points

Pro: 1993-2000

7. David Millar 1,580 points

Pro: 1997-2014

8. Barry Hoban 1,455 points

Pro: 1962-1981
9. Michael Wright 800 points

Pro: 1962-1976

10. Max Sciandri 675 points

Pro: raced as a British rider 1995-2004

For full details of the points system and position of riders beyond the top 10, see the full All-Time Ranking of British Pro Riders

A list of riders' individual victories can be found in Cycling Weekly's All-Time List of British Pro Riders

Video: Tour de France stage 10 highlights