Confirmed: no Unibet Rose Rockets, but Caja Rural in Tour de France 2026
Tour de France organizer ASO has revealed the final list of teams for the 2026 race. TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA received the last two wildcards, at the expense of Unibet Rose Rockets.
Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Pinarello-Q36.5 earned guaranteed wildcards due to their performances in 2025. Grand Tour organizers like the Tour de France are allowed, following a UCI rule change last year, to award two additional wildcards at their discretion, provided the ProTeam finished in the top 30 of the UCI Team Ranking the previous year.
TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA therefore faced competition from Unibet Rose Rockets, Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Equipo Kern Pharma, VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè, and Polti-VisitMalta.
TotalEnergies is a regular fixture in the Tour de France, and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA has also raced the Tour previously. Between 1987 and 1989, the Spaniards participated three times. Dutch rider Mathieu Hermans gave Caja Rural-Paternina their biggest success in that period: the sprinter was the fastest in the eleventh stage to Blagnac.
After almost forty years, the Spanish team is making a comeback. The biggest name in the Spanish team's lineup is sprinter Fernando Gaviria, who switched from Movistar last winter. Other riders on the ProTeam include Stefano Oldani, Fernando Barceló, Abel Balderstone, and Dutchman Alex Molenaar.
Beforehand, Unibet Rose Rockets seemed to have good chances. The team now holds a French license and attracted several big names last winter, including Victor Lafay, Wout Poels, and Dylan Groenewegen. However, that proved insufficient to secure a wildcard.
View this post on Instagram
