After new rule, Tour de France announces not two, but three wildcards: Tudor, Uno-X, and TotalEnergies are the lucky ones

Important news about the grand tours: this year, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España will be allowed to hand out an extra wildcard. This means that 23 teams will be at the start of the stage races this season. The UCI (International Cycling Union) has approved the plan because competition for the wildcards is becoming increasingly fierce.

The organizers of the grand tours had already supported the idea for some time. RCS Sport (Giro d'Italia) and Unipublic (Vuelta) had submitted an official request due to the great interest in the wildcards. A vote on the matter was held last week at the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), and that organization approved the proposal. The proposal was then submitted to the UCI, where the Management Committee granted the request today, Monday, March 31.

The International Cycling Union announced this in a press release. It didn't take much to convince them. "The arguments put forward for accepting this proposal were mainly based on the need to support second division teams (UCI ProTeams), while enabling organisers to strengthen the line-up for their race and giving riders from the additional teams the opportunity to compete in a Grand Tour. The organisers concerned will therefore be able to award three wildcards."

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Pablo Castrillo made excellent use of his wildcard in the Vuelta a España, with two stage wins.

More chances for local and national teams

This means a new change in the regulations regarding wildcards. Previously, organizations could give away four wildcards, allowing 22 teams to start (including the 18 WorldTour teams). In 2023, that regulation was changed: the two best ProTeams from the previous year were automatically awarded a wildcard, although those teams always had the right to reject it. However, it meant that the grand tours only had two tickets left to distribute to the other ProTeams.

And the competition for those last few spots has become fierce. With their large budgets and top riders, Tudor, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, and Uno-X Mobility often have an advantage when gaining access. But teams like TotalEnergies, Equipo Kern Pharma, Burgos Burpellet BH, and Team Polti VisitMalta always hope to receive a wildcard for the grand tour in their own country. That seemed almost impossible due to the old rule, but now those teams have another chance at a spot in the Tour, Giro, or Vuelta.

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Unibet Tietema Rockets want to go to the Tour de France in 2026.

Tour de France: Uno-X, TotalEnergies and Tudor

Less than an hour after announcing the new rule, the Tour de France announced the wild cards for La Grande Boucle. Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech were already guaranteed a starting place as the two best ProTeams. The three remaining wild cards go to Tudor, Uno-X Mobility, and TotalEnergies. No wild card for Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling team, who will now have to hope for a spot in the Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a España. Those races will also have 23 teams at the start.

However, no plans exist to allow 23 teams to participate next year. 'In the 2026 season, the current two wildcards will once again be able to be distributed by the organizations', according to the UCI. Good news for Unibet Tietema Rockets. Bas Tietema's French-Dutch team openly admits they would love to compete in the Tour de France in 2026. Since the team was founded, this has been their primary goal, and they are working hard to achieve it. An extra spot would increase their chances and bring them closer to starting at Le Grand Départ.  

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