Israel-Premier Tech will be at the Tour de France in 2023 despite their relegation from the WorldTour, while Uno-X have also been invited by the organisers to make their debut in cycling's biggest event.
The 18 WorldTour teams are automatically invited to all WorldTour races and the two best ranked ProTeams from 2022, also receive invitations, meaning Lotto Dstny and TotalEnergies will ride this year's Tour de France.
Race organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) had two wildcard places for teams of their choosing to complete the 22-team peloton.
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Despite interest from Euskaltel-Euskadi, who would have been on home turf with the Grand Départ in the Basque Country, Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X were announced as the final teams on the start line on Wednesday.
Israel-Premier Tech faced uncertainty over their future in the sport after being relegated from the WorldTour, with team boss Sylvan Adams threatening to sue the UCI and even close his team.
Unlike Lotto-Dstny, who were also relegated after the three-year ranking cycle, they did not earn enough UCI points in 2022 to earn automatic invites to the Grand Tours.
However, Israel-Premier Tech's 2023 race programme has now been shored up without much damage. The UCI ranking system already gave them access to WorldTour one-day races, while the UCI made a last-minute U-turn and rule change to give them invites to WorldTour stages races outside the Grand Tours.
Now, they are assured they won't miss out on the Tour de France, the race that matters most for sponsor visibility. The Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España are now the only gaps on the WorldTour calendar, and Israel-Premier Tech will be hopeful of appearing at least at the former.
The team made a strong impact at the 2022 Tour de France, winning two stages through Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle, and they also possess a four-time overall winner in Chris Froome, who showed flashes of his old self on the Alpe d'Huez stage.
“We are looking forward to racing in the sport’s most important and difficult race, the Tour de France, this July,” said Adams.
Israel – Premier Tech was one of only six teams that won at least two stages at last year’s race, and we will be hunting for more success in the 2023 edition. We will be dangerous and strong, I promise, and hope to bring winning joy to our many fans around the world, and especially in Israel.”
As for Uno-X, the invite to the 2023 Tour de France marks a significant step in the steady growth of the Norwegian team.
Run by Jens Haugland, the team set out with a philosophy of nurturing Scandinavian talent and have made appearances - and impacts - at bigger and bigger races in recent years.
After making their presence felt in the Classics in 2021, they rode a string of ASO races in 2022, including the Critérium du Dauphiné and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. They possess a star veteran in new signing Alexander Kristoff as well as an emerging talent in Tobias Halland Johannessen.
"We are extremely proud, humble, and grateful for the invitation. Tour de France is the ultimate dream, and just being a part of this is a victory for the team," said Haugland.
"We will be well prepared for this year’s edition. One of our long-term goals is to be able to fight for the top positions in the Tour de France in the future. We see no reason to think that this isn’t possible."
Euskaltel-Euskadi missed out in the race for the final two wildcards, despite a strong case being on home turf.
The Basque squad made their mark on Tour de France history from the 1990s to 2013, when the team was forced to fold, but they re-launched in a new guise - but still in familiar orange - in 2018 and have been on the up ever since. Theory rose to ProTeam level in 2020 and raced the Vuelta a España in 2021 and 2022.
They hoped the Grand Départ in the Basque Country of northern Spain would earn them a place at the Tour de France but Uno-X were better ranked and also have a women’s team in the Tour de France Femmes.
The other team initially in the conversation was B&B Hotels, who were set to sign Mark Cavendish and all-but assured themselves an invite. The team has now closed after a sponsorship crisis, with Cavendish still to confirm an expected move to Astana Qazaqstan.
