No Vuelta wildcard for the Rockets either: can the Giro d’Italia offer a way out?

The Tour de France had two wildcards available, with one going — as expected — to TotalEnergies, the strongest French ProTeam. Many assumed the Rockets would land the final spot, but ASO opted for a major surprise: Caja Rural–Seguros RGA will make its Tour de France debut. A bitter disappointment for Bas Tietema, who has spent years building towards the dream of leading a team to the Grand Départ.

And there is no consolation in the Vuelta either. In Spain, the organisers have gone with the expected names, as confirmed via La Vuelta’s announcement on X. Alongside the 18 WorldTour teams and the three best ProTeams, Burgos Burpellet BH and Equipo Kern Pharma have been handed the organiser invites.

La Vuelta has used a familiar wildcard pattern for years, with Spanish ProTeams rotating through the available places. Last season, Caja Rural–Seguros RGA and Burgos were on the start line; the year before that, Kern Pharma and Euskaltel–Euskadi got the nod. Euskaltel are no longer eligible for a wildcard this time around.

With Caja Rural heading to the Tour, the Vuelta selection became fairly straightforward — but it still leaves the Rockets empty-handed in Spain. That effectively leaves one Grand Tour option. The Giro d’Italia has not yet confirmed its full start list, and Cofidis have decided to skip the race, freeing up a place. Among the Italian ProTeams, Solution Tech–Vini Fantini have dropped out of the picture due to underwhelming results.

At first, it seemed possible Caja Rural — also missing the Vuelta — could take the spare Giro place just to ensure a Grand Tour start. But with Caja Rural now bound for the Tour, the Giro wildcard picture looks clearer: Bardiani CSF 7 Saber and Polti VisitMalta appear close to certain for invitations, leaving one final slot. Right now, the Rockets look like the strongest contenders for that last place — and it would be a significant consolation after missing out on both the Tour and the Vuelta.