"They don't claim to be French at all" - Tour de France director Prudhomme explains Unibet Rose Rockets snub and Caja Rural selection

The Tour de France has revealed the 23 teams that will participate in the 2026 edition this morning and amongst these is Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, which come as a surprise. Left out is Unibet Rose Rockets, who have already reacted to the news; whilst Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has also explained the reason behind the unexpected decision.

On a post shared on social medial, the head of Unibet Rose Rockets Bas Tietema put out a statement regarding the decision: "The most asked question of the past few months has been 'will the Rockets be riding the Tour de France in 2026?' Here is the honest answer to that question: no. We won't be at the start of the Tour de France in 2026, today we got the news we didn't get the wildcard. 2026 will still be a great year and we will do everything we can to keep improving ourselves. The Tour de France is and always will be our dream race, so please keep dreaming with us because there is so much more coming our way, not only this year but in the years to come".

After many multiple high-level signings and its French license, it was widely assumed that the last wildcard would be given to Unibet. Not only were the signings of riders such as Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels and Marcel Kittel (the latter as a member of the staff) quite strong; but the depth of the signings was very high and included former Tour stage winner Victor Lafay who looked to be set to retire from the sport.

Asked by AFP this morning about why the decision was made, Prudhomme answered: “Unibet Rose Rockets? They don't claim to be French at all. They have more Dutch riders. It's true they've made some very good signings with Wout Poels, Dylan Groenewegen, and Victor Lafay, three former Tour de France stage winners. It's a team that dreams of the Tour de France in the long term. We'll be keeping an eye on all of that in the coming years.”

But they did not do enough to earn it in his view, whilst other teams were as worthy of the selection. Caja Rural - Seguros RGA was the one who was picked by ASO.

“We used the same principle as in previous years, meaning we used the second division standings (at the end of the 2025 season). Caja Rural is 25th, but with the demise of Arkea-B&B Hotels and the merger between Lotto and Intermarché, it's 23rd," Prudhomme justifies.

However it is the presence of Abel Balderstone, current Spanish time trial champion, who might've made a big difference in the choice, also because of what he did at the Vuelta a España. "They also finished fourth in the team classification of the last Vuelta, where their leader, Abel Balderstone, finished 13th overall. He happens to be Spanish, of course, but also Catalan.”