The organisers of the 2024 Tour de France have awarded wild card invitations to Uno-X Mobility and TotalEnergies, with the two ProTeams completing the 22-squad peloton.
The 18 WorldTour squads receive an automatic invitation to the biggest race of the season. As top two teams in the 2023 UCI rankings for their league, Israel-Premier Tech and Lotto-Dstny ProTeams are also automatically invited.
Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5 missed out on Tour de France places but the Swiss ProTeam have been invited to this year's edition of Paris-Nice, while Q36.5 have been awarded a berth at the upcoming Critérium du Dauphiné.
The 2024 Tour de France starts in Florence on Saturday June 29, with three stages in Italy before the race enters France. The Paris Olympic Games means the Tour de France will finish in Nice on July 21 rather than in the capital.
No wins, but lots of pride for Uno-X in Tour de France debut
There's no way to Jumbo-proof the Tour de France - 2024 route analysis
‘I think it’s a good parcours for me’ - Jonas Vingegaard keen on 2024 Tour de France route
Mark Cavendish: 'It might be the hardest route I've ever seen at the Tour de France'
The route of the world's biggest race covers 3,492km and features two individual time trials, four mountain-top finishes, a series of gravel sections on stage 9, and a final hilly time trial to Nice.
The official route was unveiled on October 25 in a special ceremony in Paris.
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won his second GC title last year and will be back to defend his title against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who will also ride the Giro d'Italia. Vingegaard is likely to face a huge challenge from Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and former teammate turned rival Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe).
It is the second consecutive season that Uno-X secured a Tour de France wild card.
"Being invited to the Tour de France for the second consecutive year is a huge recognition," Uno-X Mobility team manager Jens Haugland said in a rapid reaction to their invitation.
"The anticipation leading up to today's invitation was immense, and now we're filled with gratitude and pride. We are very happy that our team's performances last year have earned us this new invitation."
"We have worked hard and deliberately to take new steps, including the signings of Andreas Leknessund and Magnus Cort. We eagerly anticipate contributing to another grand cycling festival in June and July, aiming to be even better prepared this time. It would be great to bring home a stage victory.”
