Caja Rural will compete in the Tour de France for the first time in the team’s history. Although the Caja Rural brand previously supported a team in the 1987 and 1988 editions led by Marino Lejarreta, this marks the debut of the current squad as a fully-fledged team.
On Friday, organizers of the French grand tour confirmed the wildcard invitations for the race, which will start in Barcelona on July 4. The Navarre-based team will be one of the main protagonists among the invited squads.
The 23-team lineup for the Tour de France now includes the 18 UCI WorldTour teams, along with Tudor, Pinarello Q36.5, and Cofidis as the top ProTeams, plus Caja Rural and TotalEnergies, receiving the two remaining wildcard slots. This means more than a decade later, two Spanish teams (Movistar and Caja Rural) will compete in the Tour.
Upon hearing the news, the team released a statement reflecting the significance of this invitation: “Sometimes dreams come true.” Now, it’s time to enjoy that dream this July. At the Challenge de Mallorca, near the start in Selva, the entire Caja Rural squad was glued to their phones, waiting for the expected confirmation from ASO (Tour organizer). The explosion of joy was total, with the team bus honking its horn repeatedly.
“As a team, this is the maximum we can achieve. Only winning a stage there would surpass it. We have to prepare for this opportunity. A year ago, this never even crossed our minds. With the disappearance of two teams, we moved up to 23rd in the ranking, and we got invites to Flèche Wallonne, Liège, Dauphiné… Those spots have to be filled by ranked teams, and we were next in line. We have to be aware and realistic. La Vuelta is our home race, our traditional one, but being in the Tour… it rewards everything. The team is focused and built to face this challenge. We have a strong roster, and now it’s about adapting to the calendar,” said Josemi Fernández, Caja Rural’s sports director.
Meanwhile, ASO also announced wildcards for this year’s Vuelta a España, awarding them to Burgos BH and Kern Pharma. Back in Mallorca, amid hugs and endless smiles, one phrase kept echoing: “Caja Rural has hit the jackpot.” The other Spanish ProTeam, Euskaltel Euskadi, will not be able to race in La Vuelta, as they failed to meet the requirement of finishing 2025 in the top 30 of the ranking—something they are striving to fix in 2026 after a strong start in points.
