Tour de France organiser ASO has announced the names of the three teams awarded wildcard invitations for this year’s race, with Cofidis, Sojasun and Team Europcar getting the nod. Following the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) decision to uphold the appeal by the Russian Katusha Team for inclusion in the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour as a first division ProTeam, there were only three spaces left for Professional Continental teams instead of the usual four.
Unlike the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France will stick to 22 teams of nine riders each; the Giro successfully applied to add a 23rd team since the CAS decision came after it had already issued its four wildcards.
Unsurprisingly ASO has taken the decision to go local, with the top three ranked French ProConti teams having been the lucky ones. Fourth French team Bretagne-Séché Environment - which is currently riding an aggressive race in the ASO supported Presidential Tour of Turkey - is the one home team to be disappointed again, as it misses out on its Tour debut once more.
This year’s Tour will be the 100th edition in the race’s 110-year history [the ten years with no race came in the two World Wars - ed] which probably explains the patriotic decision of the organisers. The inclusion of Europcar was a virtual certainty, given that it’s the home of French heroes Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland, as well as several other rising French stars, while Cofidis has been a constant fixture in the race since the team’s inception in 1997.
Sojasun [formerly Saur-Sojasun - ed] presumably gets the nod ahead of Bretagne-Séché Environment again thanks to its better results this season. Had there been a fourth spot then the team from west France may well have been awarded it.
Also disappointed to miss out will be the two overseas teams named on ASO’s shortlist of six, which was released on March 1st.
NetApp-Endura was hopeful of a Tour place after an aggressive debut in last year’s Giro d’Italia, while IAM Cycling has also been riding strongly this spring - and is one of the most combative teams in the current Tour de Romandie - but has missed out on a Tour de France berth in its first year.
The 100th Tour will start on the Corsica, making its first appearance on the island of Napoleon’s birth, on June 29th.
Tour de France 2013 (WT) June 29th - July 21st
Invited Teams
Nineteen ProTeams (automatically invited)
AG2R La Mondiale (Fra)
Astana Pro Team (Kaz)
Blanco Pro Cycling Team (Ned)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Cannondale Pro Cycling (Ita)
Euskaltel – Euskadi (Esp)
FDJ (Fra)
Garmin-Sharp (USA)
Katusha (Rus)
Lampre-Merida (Ita)
Lotto-Belisol (Bel)
Movistar Team (Esp)
Omega Pharma – QuickStep Cycling Team (Bel)
Orica GreenEdge (Aus)
RadioShack Leopard (Lux)
Sky Procycling (Gbr)
Team Argos-Shimano (Ned)
Team Saxo-Tinkoff (Den)
Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team (Ned)
Three Professional Continental Teams (wildcards)
Cofidis – Solutions Crédits (Fra)
Sojasun (Fra)
Team Europcar (Fra)