March 2/06 10:24 am - Grand Tours Name 2006 Entries

Posted by Editor on 03/2/06
 

Grand Tours Name Teams

The three Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana) have announced their team selections for the 2006 races. Since all 20 ProTour squads are automatic entries, the only speculation was who would be the "wild card" Continental teams to get into the races. To no one's surprise, the Vuelta picked two Spanish squads and the Giro two Italian ones (well, one Italian and one Colombian - which is based in Italy with many Italian riders and sponsors...). However, the Tour de France unexpectedly picked one French and one Spanish team.

ProTour teams (in all three Grand Tours):

Illes Balears (Spain)
Liberty Seguros (Spain)
Saunier Duval (Spain)
Euskaltel (Spain)
Ag2R (France)
Bouygues (France)
Cofidis (France)
Credit Agricole (France)
Francaise de Jeux (France)
Davitamon-Lotto (Belgium)
Quick Step-Innergetic (Belgium)
Discovery Channel (USA)
Gerolsteiner (Germany)
T-Mobile (Germany)
Lampre (Italy)
Liquigas (Italy)
Milram (Italy)
Phonak (Switzerland)
Rabobank (Netherlands)
CSC (Denmark)


Tour de France wild cards

Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)
Agritubel (France)

Giro wild cards

Selle Italia (Colombia)
Panaria (Italy)

Vuelta wild cards

Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)
Relax (Spain)