The 2025 Grand Tour wildcard conundrum should finally be resolved on March 26 when we will finally know who will receive the final places at the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.
Teams seeking to be promoted to the WorldTour in 2026 want Grand Tour invitations because those races are the most lucrative in terms of ranking points. The points will determine who meets the WorldTour sporting criteria, being in the top 18 team in the combined 2023-2025 UCI Team Rankings.
ProTeams are lobbying for a place that could be vital to their team's long-term development, but the current WorldTour teams are divided on the issue, with the biggest teams against increasing the number of Grand Tour teams.
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It has been suggested that if a team is awarded an extra wild card for this year's Grand Tours any points scored could prejudice the UCI team rankings and spark legal action from any team that misses out.
Everyone involved in the debate and selection process has different opinions and needs. It will be up to the UCI and the PCC to make a final decision.
Two WorldTour superteams, who did not want to be named when speaking to Cyclingnews, argued that they spend between €20 to €50 million to be part of the WorldTour, while lower-budget ProTeams could enjoy the huge sponsor and visibility of the Tour de France and other Grand Tours for much less if extra wild card places are awarded.
Cyclingnews understands the UCI Professional Cycling Council, which governs professional cycling, will meet on March 26 and vote on a request from all three Grand Tour organisers to add a 23rd place so they can award an extra wild place.
Allowing a 23rd team would allow Tudor Pro Cycling, Uno-X Mobility, and TotalEnergies to ride the Tour de France, while Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5 Pro Cycling would also ride the Giro d'Italia alongside Italian teams Polti VisitMalta and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.
Spanish ProTeams Equipo Kern Pharma, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Burgos Burpellet BH usually rotate in the wild card invitations in the Vuelta a España, but this year Q36.5 and Uno-X Mobility also want to ride the Spanish Grand Tour. A 23rd team entry for all three Grand Tours would ease the Vuelta's problems.
Under the UCI rules, the 18 WorldTour teams are automatically invited to the three Grand Tours, with the two best-ranked ProTeams in 2024 also invited but able to opt out. Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech will join the 18 WorldTour teams on the Tour de France start list, but Lotto have opted out of the Giro d'Italia to focus on scoring UCI ranking points in other races.
Uno-X Mobility have ridden the Tour de France thanks to a wildcard invitation for the last two years. However, Tudor seem confident of starting the Tour for the first time after signing Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi.
The UCI have allowed an extra team in the past but prefer not to make exemptions to their own rules and undermine the existing selection process and the fight for UCI ranking points. Safety is also an issue, with more riders in the Grand Tour pelotons increasing the risk of crashes.
