Tour de France: MTN-Qhubeka, Europcar, Cofidis, Bora-Argon 18 and Bretagne-Seche given wildcards
Last Updated: 14/01/15 5:50pm
MTN-Qhubeka will become the first African team to race the Tour de France after being awarded one of five wildcard entries to the 2015 edition.
The other teams to receive invites are Bora-Argon 18 (formerly NetApp-Endura), Cofidis, Bretagne-Seche Environnement and Europcar.
The five squads will join the 17 UCI WorldTour teams at this summer's Tour, which starts in the Dutch city of Utrecht on July 4.
MTN-Qhubeka, who are registered in South Africa and whose roster includes a mix of African and European riders, made their debut at a Grand Tour at last summer’s Vuelta a Espana.
They have invested heavily in new talent over the winter, recruiting the likes of Edvald Boasson Hagen, Theo Bos and Tyler Farrar.
'Dream is finally a reality'
Team principal Douglas Ryder said: "When I received a text message from Christian Prudhomme [the Tour's race director] saying, 'Welcome to the Tour de France' asking me to call him back, I simply could not contain myself.
"I have been waiting my whole life for this news. The pressure over the years of getting partners and riders to believe in this dream is finally a reality. We will not only ride in the Tour, we will compete and we will have the support of the whole continent behind us."
MTN-Qhubeka were established in 2007 and stepped up to cycling’s second tier, the UCI Pro Continental tour, in 2013.
They made an instant impact when Ciolek won Milan-San Remo that March, which remains the team’s best result.
