Le Parisien: Unibet Rose Rockets miss out on wildcard for the Tour de France
According to Le Parisien, Unibet Rose Rockets will not receive a wildcard for the Tour de France. The French newspaper reports that the organizer ASO has chosen TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. The announcement is expected this Friday.
At its founding in 2023, the goal for (then) TDT-Unibet was clear: to ride the 2026 Tour de France. Many considered this too ambitious, but due to various circumstances, they now seemed to have a good chance of getting a wildcard.
Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Pinarello-Q36.5 have secured wildcards thanks to their 2025 performances. Grand Tour organizers like the Tour de France are allowed, due to a UCI regulation 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.
Due to the merger of Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty and the disappearance of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, the following teams qualify for these two Tour wildcards: TotalEnergies, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Unibet Rose Rockets, Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Equipo Kern Pharma, VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè, and Polti-VisitMalta.
TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
TotalEnergies is a staple in the Tour de France, and Caja Rural-Seguros has also raced the Tour before. Between 1987 and 1989, the Spanish team participated three times. Dutchman Mathieu Hermans delivered Caja Rural-Paternina their greatest success in that team's last appearance: the sprinter was the fastest in stage eleven to Blagnac.
Still, Unibet Rose Rockets appeared to have strong cards to play. The team now races under a French license and signed several big names last winter, including Victor Lafay, Wout Poels, and Dylan Groenewegen. The latter recently debuted for his new team with a win at the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana.
However, this apparently is not enough to participate in the Tour de France, reports Le Parisien. According to the French newspaper, TotalEnergies will return, and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA will make a comeback after nearly forty years. The biggest name in the Spanish team’s lineup is sprinter Fernando Gaviria, who transferred from Movistar last winter. Other riders for the ProTeam include Stefano Oldani, Fernando Barceló, Abel Balderstone, and Dutchman Alex Molenaar.
One possible reason to prefer the Spanish team over Unibet Rose Rockets is that the Tour de France starts in Spain this year. The race will begin with a team time trial in Barcelona.
