World Tour Wild Cards 2025

[Eddy Evenepoel]

With Lotto and Israel saying no, it isnt that many good options among the PCS teams and Q36.5, Polti and Bardiani are doing Tirreno. The options are then basically Caja Rural, KernPharma, Euskaltel, Burgos-BH and Unitbet Tietma. And Tietma is doing a pretty intense classics calendar in March I think.

It could maybe be a sign that Caja Rural will not get the Vuelta?

 

[AupaPyama]

That was late. Perhaps Lotto or Israel declined recently? And Q36.5 is in Tirreno with Pidders.

No, it was already announced with the other 3 wildcards on 31 Dec 2024 that a fourth would follow and Lotto and Israel declined. I expected Kern Pharma due to their great Vuelta but Caja Rural is also a good choice. ASO did invite Kern Pharma (LBL) and Euskaltel (FW) last year so now its Caja's turn.

 

[AupaPyama]

With Lotto and Israel saying no, it isnt that many good options among the PCS teams and Q36.5, Polti and Bardiani are doing Tirreno. The options are then basically Caja Rural, KernPharma, Euskaltel, Burgos-BH and Unitbet Tietma. And Tietma is doing a pretty intense classics calendar in March I think.

It could maybe be a sign that Caja Rural will not get the Vuelta?

If the GT get the extra wildcard it should be Lotto, Israel, Burgos, Kern Pharma and Caja Rural I think. It's their turn to ride the Vuelta but due to Kern Pharma's results in 2024 I think this team should be included also and Caja could be the 23th team.

 

[Netserk]

No, it was already announced with the other 3 wildcards on 31 Dec 2024 that a fourth would follow and Lotto and Israel declined. I expected Kern Pharma due to their great Vuelta but Caja Rural is also a good choice. ASO did invite Kern Pharma (LBL) and Euskaltel (FW) last year so now its Caja's turn.

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

 

[YavorD]

Is it just me or GT WC's take mich lounger to be announced this year?
Isn't it usually by the and of January?

 

[Samamba]

Is it just me or GT WC's take mich lounger to be announced this year?
Isn't it usually by the and of January?

It's because ASO and RCS are demanding an extra WC, so there's negotiations with the UCI behind the scenes.

 

[pastronef]

I hope Astana remains WT, so maybe Cofidis drops to Pro-conti and they'll skip the Giro from 2026 as Lotto did.
and I'm looking forward to Arkea's future. I must admit them folding would make wild card for the next years a bit easier. at least for Total.
in any case the grand tours wild cards 2026 will break some hearts, also because Euskaltel won't probably make the top 30 pro-conti teams

 

[RedheadDane]

Wild Card teams for the Giro are gonna receive a call on 7/5:

"Hey, guys! You're invited to the Giro! "

 

[Samamba]

According to Wielerflits Total and UNO X (so no Tudor) will get the 2 wild cards IF the UCI doesn't change their rules. Tudor, Bardiani and Polti will be getting the Giro ones. Q36.5 only if the UCI grants an extra WC. ASO would also give an invite for the Vuelta to Tudor, which means they would be ditching 2 out of Kern Pharma, Caja and Burgos. Hard pill to swallow for Spanish cycling.

 

[ingsve]

Seems like the ASO reasoning might be that since Tudor is almost guaranteed Giro start because of being official timing sponsor they can just give them a 2nd GT in the Vuelta as compensation for not giving them the Tour.

Still hope they add the extra places the races have asked for.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

According to Wielerflits Total and UNO X (so no Tudor) will get the 2 wild cards IF the UCI doesn't change their rules. Tudor, Bardiani and Polti will be getting the Giro ones. Q36.5 only if the UCI grants an extra WC. ASO would also give an invite for the Vuelta to Tudor, which means they would be ditching 2 out of Kern Pharma, Caja and Burgos. Hard pill to swallow for Spanish cycling.

But if there are extra WCs in all three, then Tudor will get the Tour and not do the Vuelta, meaning that there will be space for the spanish teams.

In my eyes this looks ideal if there are an extra wild card in all GTs:
Giro: Tudor, Bardiani, Polti & Q36.5
Tour: Total, Uno-X & Tudor
Vuetla: Kern Pharma, Caja Rural & Burgos

 

[pastronef]

and for 2026 there'll be the same problem: begging UCI for a 23rd team again.
2026 will be hard for Total (and Arkea)

 

[ingsve]

and for 2026 there'll be the same problem: begging UCI for a 23rd team again.
2026 will be hard for Total (and Arkea)

It will all depend on what teams are in the WT, guaranteed spots and most importantly, if teams like Arkea even survives to next year.

 

[Samamba]

and for 2026 there'll be the same problem: begging UCI for a 23rd team again.
2026 will be hard for Total (and Arkea)

That's different cause a new 3y cycle has started then and UCI could actually change the rules easily. Now they have to change rules mid cycle and mid season which is just weird. And then I'm not even talking about the UCI's own reason for reducing the amount of teams/riders in races in the past which they would now just forget, which is hypocritical when everyone (including riders but now they don't care ofc) cries about safety.

It will all depend on what teams are in the WT, guaranteed spots and most importantly, if teams like Arkea even survives to next year.

See, this is just not how it should work. You either give an extra WC every year or you don't, but not just whenever it suits you or whenever rich teams want wild cards. That's ridiculous.

They should just give WT teams the option to skip a Grand Tour every year. Guarenteed teams like Cofidis, Lotto, and Intermarché will take that opportunity for either Giro or Vuelta and then you have extra spots without increasing riders in a GT.

 

[Netserk]

They should just give WT teams the option to skip a Grand Tour every year. Guarenteed teams like Cofidis, Lotto, and Intermarché will take that opportunity for either Giro or Vuelta and then you have extra spots without increasing riders in a GT.

That was the case until 2011 with the creation of the WT.

In the 2010 Giro, three PT teams declined their invitation (Euskaltel, FdJ & RadioShack). In the 2011 Giro, all WT teams were obligated to participate.

 

[Berniece]

According to Wielerflits Total and UNO X (so no Tudor) will get the 2 wild cards IF the UCI doesn't change their rules. Tudor, Bardiani and Polti will be getting the Giro ones. Q36.5 only if the UCI grants an extra WC. ASO would also give an invite for the Vuelta to Tudor, which means they would be ditching 2 out of Kern Pharma, Caja and Burgos. Hard pill to swallow for Spanish cycling.

Does it make sense that you give those wild cards to such small teams though? Aren't there enough smaller Spanish WT races that they could also be part of, instead of a GT.

 

[pastronef]

That's different cause a new 3y cycle has started then and UCI could actually change the rules easily. Now they have to change rules mid cycle and mid season which is just weird. And then I'm not even talking about the UCI's own reason for reducing the amount of teams/riders in races in the past which they would now just forget, which is hypocritical when everyone (including riders but now they don't care ofc) cries about safety.



See, this is just not how it should work. You either give an extra WC every year or you don't, but not just whenever it suits you or whenever rich teams want wild cards. That's ridiculous.

They should just give WT teams the option to skip a Grand Tour every year. Guarenteed teams like Cofidis, Lotto, and Intermarché will take that opportunity for either Giro or Vuelta and then you have extra spots without increasing riders in a GT.

talking about teams, Arkea will not even be among the 2 best pro-conti teams, maybe not even the 3rd who gets all WT 1 day races (or fold if they don't find a sponsor by end of April, that's what they said)

we should hope Astana stays in the WT, so either Wanty or DSM or Cofidis will get relegated and they'll skip Giro/Vuelta

the situation in Spain for 2026 will see Euskaltel not having right for a wild card (not in the top 30 teams)

the fight between Uno-X, Tudor, Q36.5 will be strong

 

[Samamba]

Does it make sense that you give those wild cards to such small teams though? Aren't there enough smaller Spanish WT races that they could also be part of, instead of a GT.

If you want to kill off Spanish cycling even more, it indeed doesn't make sense no. You ride on Spanish roads, you have help from the Spanish government, indirectly from Spanish taxpayers and you think it's doesn't make sense to give teams like Burgos; Kern Pharma and Caja Rural their chances? You could say Euskatel is way too weak (won't be in top 30 anyways) but the other teams are pretty decent nowadays so yes.

It's the same for France btw, there's a reason why Total gets a wild card.

 

[pastronef]

Does it make sense that you give those wild cards to such small teams though? Aren't there enough smaller Spanish WT races that they could also be part of, instead of a GT.

tell that to their sponsor whose 90% visibility comes from the Vuelta wild card

 

[Samamba]

That was the case until 2011 with the creation of the WT.

In the 2010 Giro, three PT teams declined their invitation (Euskaltel, FdJ & RadioShack). In the 2011 Giro, all WT teams were obligated to participate.

Yes 10 times better, but UCI wants to make almost everything obligated, even the 300 points races from next year on. They sell it to the public, teams and organizers like they're giving teams and organizers more choice but it's the opposite. Teams will only be able to skip 1 race from next year onwards, instead of for example UAE, Guangxi, Frankfurt, Copenhagen all together. Of course it does make it so that for example maybe Paris Nice might get a wild card extra but that's it. Worse for teams, maybe a little bit better for organizers (more stacked field for smaller WT races probably) but that's it.

 

[Berniece]

If you want to kill off Spanish cycling even more, it indeed doesn't make sense no. You ride on Spanish roads, you have help from the Spanish government, indirectly from Spanish taxpayers and you think it's doesn't make sense to give teams like Burgos; Kern Pharma and Caja Rural their chances? You could say Euskatel is way too weak (won't be in top 30 anyways) but the other teams are pretty decent nowadays so yes.

You are right that they should be included. Was just thinking about other great teams/riders that might be excluded because the top PCT and bottom WT are too close together. But there isn't a real solution for that.

 

[Samamba]

You are right that they should be included. Was just thinking about other great teams/riders that might be excluded because the top PCT and bottom WT are too close together. But there isn't a real solution for that.

It's an open system. They can get better and get either to the WT or get the guaranteed WCs. Tudor is a different case (and if they just do their job they'll have invites everywhere next season), but I have for example no idea why Q36.5 deserves wild cards. Great, you are overpaying Pidcock and you maybe have like 2 other decent riders, that's it. Q36.5 is not a good team. With all due respect, no one would miss them and Pidcock knew what he was getting into signing there. One of the main points of the system was too let new rich billionaire teams prove themselves first before getting into the big races. Q36.5 has not done that yet. It's a slippery slope if you let it happen. What if an other rich billionaire starts a team this year and they buy one good rider and want a WC next year. Are we going to give them one too?

Look, the system is far from perfect, but imo these rich teams aren't the ones that need "protection" or rules changes that benefit them. And I would somewhat agree if all these French, Spanish or Italian ProConti teams were just *** like some years in the past, but that's not the case anymore imo. They have their place.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You are right that they should be included. Was just thinking about other great teams/riders that might be excluded because the top PCT and bottom WT are too close together. But there isn't a real solution for that.

Top PCT and bottom WT are too close together only because the UCI got scared of getting sued by big teams getting relegated and so instigated a system where the top PCT teams basically ARE WT teams, meaning the rotating cast of PCT teams that get to do the WT races is drawn from a smaller group, because the vast majority of the invites are bogarted by the same small handful, and organisers of stage races are forced to use up 50% of the less than 20% of their startlists that they have control over on teams that got relegated from the WT, meaning that in reality organisers get a say over less than 10% of the invites in their own races.

 

[Samamba]

Top PCT and bottom WT are too close together only because the UCI got scared of getting sued by big teams getting relegated and so instigated a system where the top PCT teams basically ARE WT teams

Where do you get this from? This had nothing to do with it. System had been in place for years before Israel threatened to sure and UCI gave them invited for WT races (and not GTs) for 1 year.

First teams that used the guaranteed WCs were teams that were always Pro Conti, like Alpecin, Total and Arkea. Not big teams back then. Nothing to do with being relegated or not, just with being one of the two best pro teams.

 

[Berniece]

, meaning that in reality organisers get a say over less than 10% of the invites in their own races.

I get that if you want WT status as a race that there are rules connected to it