‘We’ll be ready the moment the chance comes’ – Unibet Tietema Rockets on track for 2026 Tour de France wildcard place

The Unibet Tietema Rockets team is on track to secure a wildcard invitation to the 2026 Tour de France after finishing 26th in the 2025 UCI team rankings.

The innovative ProTeam, owned by former pro rider Bas Tietema and friends Devin van der Wiel and Josse Wester, ended the 2025 season with Lukáš Kubiš finishing second overall at the new NIBC Tour of Holland.

Uno-X Mobility are set to step-up to WorldTour level for 2026-2028, with Cofidis relegated to ProTeam level. The French team should secure automatic invitations to the WorldTour races in 2026, alongside Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5 due to their 2025 points.

ProTeams have to finish in the top 30 of the UCI team ranking to be eligible for the following year’s Grand Tour wildcards, with 23 teams in the Grand Tour peloton.

TotalEnergies, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Team Polti VisitMalta, Burgos Burpellet BH, Equipo Kern Pharma, VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè also finished in the top 30 with Unibet Tietema Rockets.

TotalEnergies seem certain for one of the Tour de France wild card places, with the final spot widely expected to go to Unibet Tietema Rockets due to them being registered in France for sponsor reasons.

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Burgos Burpellet BH and Equipo Kern Pharma in line for the Vuelta a España wildcards, with Team Polti VisitMalta and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè likely to ride the Giro d’Italia.

The Unibet Tietema Rockets have signed six-time Tour stage winner Dylan Groenewegen for 2026, with journalist Daniel Benson suggesting Wout Poels could also join from XDS-Astana. The team has also signed Elmar Reinders from Jayco-AlUla and talented Danish track rider Niklas Larsen, with other signings expected to be revealed soon.

The team has secured wildcard invites to a number of one-day races in 2025, including the Amstel Gold Race, Paris–Roubaix, the Copenhagen Sprint and the Renewi Tour.

They would be happy with a wildcard invitation to the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta but have never hidden their ambitions to one day ride the Tour de France.

Cyclingnews saw Bas Tietema, Devin van der Wiel and Josse Wester at the Giro d’Italia in May and they have developed their successful YouTube channel over several years at the Tour de France. Race organizers ASO would surely welcome the innovative communications style and enthusiasm of the Unibet Tietema Rockets in the 2026 Tour.

The Unibet Tietema Rockets owners are expected to attend the presentation of the 2026 Tour de France route in Paris on Thursday, with conversations with possible new sponsors and ASO likely already underway. ASO usually reveal their final wildcard selection in February.

“There’s no clear date for when the Rockets will line up in the Tour de France. What we can promise: we’ll be ready the moment the chance comes,” the team said in a Substack post this summer as they focused on scoring points.

“By ready, we don’t just mean riding along. We mean ready to fight for stage wins. Because being there is cool, but being there to win is even better.”