The organizers of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia have announced the lucky teams that have earned wild cards for this year's races. The 18 World Tour teams and the two best Pro Teams from last season automatically qualified for the first two Grand Tours of the year.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has accommodated the Grand Tour organizers and agreed to allow 23 teams to start, instead of the previous 22. This means the number of cyclists will increase to 184 (up from 176). Several major teams opposed the change, arguing it would increase safety risks and affect the earning of ranking points.
TotalEnergies, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Uno-X Mobility received wild cards for the Tour. "This is a great recognition for our team, as we have worked hard to earn this invitation," said former top cyclist and now manager for Uno-X Mobility, Thor Hushovd. "The competition for a wild card has never been so intense, but we have proven we belong at this level. The invitation is the result of the work done in recent years, and showing ourselves on the biggest stage means a lot to both the team and our partners."
Giro organizers awarded wild cards to Q36.5 Pro Cycling and Tudor Pro Cycling, as well as Italian teams Polti-VisitMalta and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.
Vuelta organizers have not yet announced the wild card recipients, but they are likely to choose from the following teams: Kern Pharma, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Burgos BH-Burpellet, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Q36.5, and Uno-X Mobility.
💛23 teams at the start of the #TDF2025 💛
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) March 31, 2025
✅ The 18 UCI WorldTeams
✅ 🇧🇪 @lottocycling_ and 🇮🇱 @IsraelPremTech, 1st and 2nd UCI ProTeams in 2024
🇫🇷 @TeamTotalEnrg, 🇨🇭 @TudorProCycling and 🇳🇴 @UnoXteam, invited by the organizers.
See you on July 5 😉
💛 23 teams at the start… pic.twitter.com/XjmxX6EjbI
23 teams, one epic race: wildcards are locked in!💥 Who are you rooting for?📢
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) March 31, 2025
23 teams, an epic race: Wildcards have been assigned!💥 Who are you cheering for?📢#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/5qTRkk4KTP
