The large tours in world cycling have agreed on a changed number of participating teams.
Another fifth wildcard will be awarded this year at the Tour de France as well as the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. This increases the number of participating race stables from 22 to 23.
Moritz Cassalette, Sportschau Tourfunk, 24.03.2025 10:27 a.m.
Eight additional drivers in the peloton
The change should finally be adopted on March 31, the UCI cycling association said. The number of drivers in the peloton increases from 176 to 184. Each of the 18 World Tour and five Wildcard teams can continue to start with eight.
In 2018, the World Association UCI reduced the size of the individual teams from nine to eight drivers. The association wanted to reduce the risk of falling and thus ensure more security. Already in 2021 there was an additional wildcard on the Grand Tours for a year. At that time, the UCI wanted to enable the second -class proteams to recover financially from the corona -based racing calendar in 2020.