In a recent press conference, the Vuelta a España organization announced the teams that will participate in the 2024 edition. The organization awarded four wildcards, two of them mandatory for the Lotto Dstny and Israel-Premier Tech teams.
The other two vacancies were granted to Spanish ProTeams, in a decision that left out Burgos-BH and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.
Doping accusations may have taken away team invitation
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, which was present at the competition in 2022, was also left out, possibly as a result of doping accusations and ongoing investigations in Spanish justice, as reported by Giro do Ciclismo .
Ambitious teams such as Uno-X, Burgos-BH, Q36.5, Polti-Kometa (led by Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso) and Tudor were left out of the event.
Teams that receive an invitation to participate
The invitation to the 2024 edition of the Vuelta a España has reached the Equipo Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi teams.
Mandatory Wildcards
Organizer Unipublic, part of ASO (Amaury Sport Organization), had to make this decision because, of the four wildcards available, two of them were necessarily destined for the Lotto Dstny and Israel-Premier Tech teams.
These teams earned this prerogative due to their performances in 2023. Although they have the right to participate, teams can also refuse the wildcard. Lotto Dstny, for example, gave up participating in the Giro d’Italia, although it participates in the Tour de France and, now, the Vuelta.
The four aforementioned ProTeams will be competing in the 2024 Vuelta a España against all eighteen WorldTeams.