With Alpecin Phoenix owner Christoph Rudhoeft confirming to Wielerfritz that he will be competing in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España, the battle for the wildcard slot in the 2021 Grand Tour is The competition for the wildcard slot in the 2021 Grand Tour just got more intense. Alpecin Phoenix won the 2020 European Tour to qualify for this year's Grand Tour.

Total Direct Energy, the 2019 European Tour winner, qualified for the Tour and Vuelta, but declined an automatic invitation to the Giro, so organizer RCS Sport allocated three wildcard slots.

The Alpecin Phoenix decision means that the Tour, Giro, and Vuelta will each have two invitation slots at their disposal in 2021. The race for a Giro berth is likely to be particularly intense.

"We decided to start with three Grand Tours," Rudhoeft told Wielerflits (open in new tab). 'In addition to the Tour de France, we're also going to compete in the Giro, since Phoenix is the Italian title sponsor. And the Vuelta has also been added to our program."

Alpecin Phoenix did not ride any Grand Tours in 2020, but their decision means that several of last year's participating teams will miss this season.

French professional teams Total Direct Energie, Arkea Samsic, and B&B Hotels p/b KTM will compete for the remaining two slots in the Tour de France. Belgium's Intermarque Wanty Gobert has already decided to buy the World Tour license of the defunct CCC team and return to the Tour in 2021.

In 2020, RCS Sport distributed three Giro wildcards to the Italian teams Androni-Sidermec, Vini-Zabù-KTM, and Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè. These three teams are competing for the two positions at RCS Sport's disposal this year, but Gazprom-RusVelo and EOLO-Kometa have also expressed interest in competing in the 2021 Giro.

For the 2020 Vuelta, Total Direct Energie is one of three non-WorldTour teams, along with wildcard selections Burgos BH and Caja Rural Seguros RGA.

Alpecin Phoenix leader Mathieu Van der Pol has already decided to debut in the Tour de France in 2021, telling Sporza, "I think we owe it to our sponsors to participate in the Tour." The winner of the Tour de Flanders also intends to compete in the mountain bike event at the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held shortly thereafter.

Roodhoft is unsure whether Alpecin Phoenix will field all of its strong riders in the Tour or a balance of the three Grand Tours; new riders for 2021 include Sylvain Dillier and Yasper Philipsen, while Tim Mellier will remain with the team along with Van der Pol.

"What I do know is that at the Tour you aim to be totally invisible one day and the center of attention the next," Rudhoft said. I think that's your only chance to succeed. I think that's our only chance to succeed.