RCS Sport has confirmed the 23 teams that will contest the 109th Giro d'Italia, scheduled to run from May 8 to May 31. The selection includes the 18 mandatory UCI WorldTeams, two automatically qualified ProTeams and three wildcard invitations.
The race will begin with a Grande Partenza in Bulgaria before transferring to Italy for the remainder of the three-week route.
Under UCI regulations, the top three ProTeams from the 2025 season rankings earned automatic entry. Two of those spots went to Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and Tudor Pro Cycling Team.
A third automatic berth would ordinarily have gone to Cofidis, the highest-ranked ProTeam of 2025. However, the French squad declined its invitation to focus on other racing objectives, freeing up an additional discretionary slot for the organisers.
RCS Sport used its three wildcard invitations on Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, Team Polti VisitMalta and Unibet Rose Rockets. The first two are Italian-registered squads for whom Giro participation is a commercial lifeline, with managers from both teams having indicated that missing the race could threaten their projects' financial viability.
The Franco-Dutch Unibet Rose Rockets, founded as a Continental squad in 2023, will make its Grand Tour debut in May. The Rockets were overlooked by ASO for a Tour de France wildcard earlier this year, making the Giro invitation their route into cycling's top tier of racing.
Full team list
UCI WorldTeams (18, automatic entry):
- Alpecin-Premier Tech
- Bahrain Victorious
- Decathlon CMA CGM Team
- EF Education-EasyPost
- Groupama-FDJ United
- INEOS Grenadiers
- Lidl-Trek
- Lotto-Intermarché
- Movistar Team
- NSN Cycling Team
- Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
- Soudal Quick-Step
- Team Picnic-PostNL
- Team Jayco-AlUla
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike
- UAE Team Emirates XRG
- Uno-X Mobility
- XDS Astana Team
UCI ProTeams (5):
- Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (automatic)
- Tudor Pro Cycling Team (automatic)
- Bardiani CSF 7 Saber (wildcard)
- Team Polti VisitMalta (wildcard)
- Unibet Rose Rockets (wildcard)
Several ranked ProTeams missed out on selection, with TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA among the confirmed absentees.
Wildcard invitations remain one of the few levers race organisers hold over an otherwise rules-driven start list.
Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
