Barloworld hopes to pedal itself into the Tour

Team Barloworld is hitting three races in Europe in the next few weeks, and hopes to do well enough to win itself a wildcard invitation to this year's Tour de France.

The action starts off with the Clasica Alcobendas in Spain (May 12-13), a two-day, three stage race. The next race is the GP Paredes Rota dos Moveis in Portugal, from May 17 to 20.

The most important race for the team however, will be the Tour de Picardie in France from May 18 to 20. Team Manager Claudio Corti will accompany the team to this race, which is organised by ASO, which also organises the Tour de France. "Team Barloworld hope that a good result in France (and the leadership of UCI 'Europe Tour' rankings) will increase their chances of getting a wild card invitation to this year's Tour," the team's press release read.

Clasica Alcobendas: Pedro Arreitunandia, John Lee Augustyn, Félix Rafael Cárdenas, Giampaolo Cheula, Hugo Sabido, Ryan Cox, Robert Hunter and James Perry.

GP Paredes Rota des Moveis: Pedro Arreitunandia, John Lee Augustyn, Félix Rafael Cárdenas, Giampaolo Cheula, Hugo Sabido, and Ryan Cox.

Tour de Picardie: Robert Hunter, James Perry, Giosuè Bonomi, Enrico Degano, Alex Efimkin, Fabrizio Guidi, Paolo Longo Borghini and Geraint Thomas.