Israel-Premier Tech, Uno-X earn Tour de France wild cards

Published January 4, 2023 04:24AM

The Tour de France unveiled its wild-card invitations for 2022, with Uno-X, Lotto Dstny, TotalEnergies, and Israel-Premier Tech all earning a spot.

In addition to the four invitees, all 18 of the WorldTour teams will compete at the race, which runs July 1-23.

Lotto Dstny and TotalEnergies earned their place at the race due to their position in the overall team rankings at the end of 2022, with the top-two ProTeams given automatic invitations.

Israel-Premier Tech was too low down in the rankings to earn an automatic spot, but convinced event organizer ASO to give it an entry. The team won two stage wins at last year’s Tour de France with Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle taking victories.

”After racing our best ever Tour de France in 2022, we are thrilled to return to the race this year for our fourth participation,” Israel Premier Tech general manager Kjell Carlström said. “With each participation, we have grown as a team, and watching Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle claim two emotional stage victories last year was an absolute highlight of our team’s eight-year history.

“We are hungry for more and we will be lining up at this year’s Tour de France racing for victories and making our fans and partners proud to support IPT. I also want to thank ASO for inviting us back to the race, in what will undoubtedly be one of our big objectives of the season.”

Meanwhile, Uno-X made history with its selection by becoming the first Scandinavian team to see an invite to the men’s Tour de France. Its women’s squad competed at the Tour de France Femmes last year.

“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,” general manager Jens Haugland said.

“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 Tour de France in the future. We see no reason to think that this isn’t possible,” he continues.

UCI WorldTeams

• AG2R Citroën Team
• Alpecin Deceuninck
• Astana Qazaqstan
• Bora-Hansgrohe
• EF Education-EasyPost
• Groupama-FDJ
• Ineos Grenadiers
• Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
• Jumbo-Visma
• Movistar Team
• Soudal Quick-Step
• Team Arkea-Samsic
• Team Bahrain Victorious
• Team Cofidis
• Team DSM
• Team Jayco AlUla
• Trek-Segafredo
• UAE Team Emirates

Israel-Premier Tech, Uno-X earn Tour de France wild cards

UCI WorldTeams

The two teams pre-qualified

The two teams invited by the organizer