Unibet Rose Rockets lose out as Caja Rural get surprise Tour de France wildcard

Unibet Rose Rockets have surprisingly missed out on a wildcard place at the Tour de France, with ASO instead handing its discretionary invitations to TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.

The Tour organiser made the announcement on Friday, when it was also confirmed that Tudor Pro Cycling, Cofidis and Pinarello-Q36.5 would take up their places as the three top-ranked teams outside of the WorldTour.

Although the team was only founded in 2023 and only moved up to ProTeam level last season, Unibet Rose Rockets had been appeared confident of receiving a wildcard invitation for this year’s Tour.

The team, which emerged from manager Bas Tietema’s YouTube channel, began under the Dutch flag before taking out French registration at the beginning of 2025 with the stated aim of bolstering their chances of a future Tour invitation.

Unibet Rose Rockets strengthened their roster considerably for 2026, signing previous Tour stage winners Dylan Groenewegen and Victor Lafay, and bringing Marcel Kittel on board as sprint coach.

Groenewegen got their season off to a winning start at the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana last weekend, but that wasn’t enough to convince ASO, who instead opted to invite TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-RGA Seguros. 

The news was broken by Le Parisienon Thursday and confirmed on Friday by the race organiser, who announced its wildcard invitations two months earlier than it did in 2025. 

TotalEnergies have never missed the Tour since their foundation as Bonjour in 2000. That certainly wasn’t going to change this year, as the team are fighting for their future with TotalEnergies set to withdraw its backing at the end of the season.

Caja Rural’s Tour debut is rather more unexpected, though the squad strengthened for 2026 by signing former maillot jaune Fernando Gavira after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Movistar. Above all, the Spanish team’s case was likely helped by the fact that this year’s Tour starts in Barcelona.

Inviting Caja Rural to the Tour might also solve a conundrum for ASO and its partner Unipublic at the Vuelta a España, where three Spanish teams have vied for two wildcard places in recent years. With Caja Rural riding the Tour, Burgos Burgpellet BH and Kern Pharma will now be more optimistic about receiving invitations to the Vuelta.

Meanwhile, Pinarello-Q36.5’s Tour debut has now been officially confirmed, and it is expected that Tom Pidcock will lead their challenge in July. Stefan Küng and Julian Alaphilippe will headline Tudor’s roster, while Cofidis ride their 30th successive Tour despite relegation from the WorldTour at the end of last season.

Soon after the ASO confirmed the wildcards, Unibet Rose Rockets responded with a direct message to fans. “Will the Rockets be at the Tour de France in 2026?” they wrote. “No, we won’t be at the Tour de France in 2026. Today we got the news that we did not receive a wildcard.”

The team struck a disappointed but forward looking tone, insisting the Tour remains the long term target. “2026 is still going to be an incredible year, and we’ll do everything we can to keep improving ourselves,” they said. “The Tour de France is and always will be our dream race. So please, keep dreaming with us.”

They also underlined the community that has carried the project since its YouTube origins. “We feel a lot of support, from the hundreds of thousands of fans who follow us on YouTube, on social media, and along the roads,” the statement read. “We need the support of all of you to achieve big things in 2026. Let’s Rocket.”