Bretagne-Schuller a candidate for the Tour de France

Bretagne-Schuller, the soon-to-be Pro Continental French team, is aiming at a Tour de France place in 2011. Manager Joël Blévin told Cyclingnews that although he hasn't yet sent an official request to ASO, his squad is a candidate for all the ASO's events next year, including Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, the Ardennes Classics and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

"It's not just a dream and it won’t be a scandal if we don’t have a wild card next year, but we have got real assets like our sporting level, our ethics, our young image and our Breton identity," Blévin said.

The manager knows that the fight will be hard because ASO will probably offer four wildcards and all the five French teams registered as Pro Continental - Cofidis, Française des Jeux, Europcar, Saur-Sojasun and Bretagne-Schuller - will want to ride the Tour.

"Nobody expected Brice Feillu as a stage winner in Andorre-Arcalis [at the 2009 Tour de France] and he did it. Bretagne-Schuller has got dedicated riders who can show themselves in the Tour."