March 2, 2006 – The Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana have announced their “wild-card” team selections for the 2006 racing season. As the twenty ProTour registered teams are automatically entered, speculation was focused on the “wild card” teams. The Vuelta a Espana picked two Spanish squads; the Giro d’Italia an Italian team and an Italy-based Colombian team, while the Tour de France picked one French and one Spanish team.

ProTour Teams (to participate 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 d’Italia Wild Cards
Selle Italia (Colombia)
Panaria (Italy)

Vuelta a Espana Wild Cards
Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)
Relax (Spain)