I don't know much about the UCI points thingy but I've read that the TdF is not the place to look for them. It's much more competitive but no extra points. Better to go hunting stage wins in the Tour of Nowhere in Particular.
Something like that anyway
I commend Inrng's weekly updates on the UCI league table, the latest of which is
https://inrng.com/2022/06/uci-world-tour-21-june/ (and there should be another tomorrow).
Linked on there, there's an explanation of what race offers what points. If you're a stage hunter, you'd be better at the Tour unless you can also win one-day races. A Tour stage win offers 120 points, down to 5 for fifth, but stage wins in the smaller races aren't actually as pointy, with the highest offering only 60 points for a stage win somewhere like Suisse or Dauphiné, while UAE stages are only 40 points: a Tour stage is worth 3 UAE stages this year.
High GC finishes in a smaller stage race are worthwhile if a rider can't sustain it over 3 weeks (180 for 5th place in Poland, for example), but if they can read a one-day race, the two late August one-day classics at Hamburg and Bretagne offer 400 for the win all the way down to 2 for 60th (same as Donostia San Sebastian) and the Canadian GPs in early September are in the first division alongside Lombardia offering 500 down to 3 for 60th, so I can see why some team bosses might keep one or two riders away from the Tour to target those.
But I think no World Tour races overlap with the Tour this year, so otherwise, it's the best place to send your most likely winners, isn't it? So I also don't really understand Bike Exchange not putting in any GC challenge and taking both Matthews and Groenewegen, unless they're fearing one will crash or get disqualified. Movistar also look a bit complacent and they are not that far ahead of the relegation battle.
