"We are fighting to get this invitation once more" - Uno-X face uncertainty over Tour de France wildcard against a fierce competition

With Tour de France's grand route presentation over, we seem set to know nearly all key ingredients for next year's Grande Boucle... except which ProTeams will receive the wildcards. Lotto Dstny and Israel - Premier Tech are unlikely to give up their right to start, leaving only to spots open with at least three strong candidates in the mix. Among them the ever-ambitious Scandinavian formation Uno-X Mobility lead by a legend of Norwegian cycling Thor Hushovd.

"We haven't received the invitation yet, unfortunately. We want to meet ASO, meet the management, meet the organiser, talk to them and show that we are serious about this. Being present and just being visible is important," says Thor Hushovd to Norwegian TV 2.

In 2024, Uno-X were under the spotlight for vast part of the Tour thanks to the tireless Jonas Abrahamsen who led both Polka Dot and Points classifications at one point of the race. Eventually, no major result came out of their participation, but a strong positive feeling prevails over the presence of the Scandinavians.

"There were few great performances here. It shows that we take it seriously and we appreciate ASO as an organiser. We are fighting to get this invitation once more," says Hushovd.

Uno-X made a second appearance in a row at the Tour de France this summer, but there's still no certainty a third wild card is coming their way. The Norwegian team will have strong competitors for the invitation in traditional French team TotalEnergies and newly also the Swiss Tudor Pro Cycling with fan-favourite Julian Alaphilippe among their ranks from next season onwards.

Hushovd already went through the first round of talks with ASO and believes the chances of his team are still more than decent: "The gut feeling is still very good, but one must take seriously that Tudor has signed two extremely good riders with Hirschi and Alaphilippe. But at the same time, we have had a brilliant season," concludes Hushovd.