The Tour de France organisers A.S.O. earlier today announced the 22 teams that will participate in the 2010 Tour de France, which will take place from 3rd to 25th July 2010 and start in Rotterdam on Saturday 3rd July.

16 teams have been selected in compliance with the agreement passed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in September 2008:

Team Milram (Germany)
Quick Step (Belgium)
Omega Pharma  - Lotto (Belgium)
Team Saxo Bank (Denmark)
Caisse d'Epargne (Spain)
Euskaltel - Euskadi (Spain / Basque Country)
Footon - Servetto (Spain)
Team HTC-Columbia (USA)
AG2R La Mondiale (France)
BBox  Bouygues Telecom (France)
Cofidis, le Crédit en ligne (France)
Française des Jeux (France)
Lampre - Farnese (Italy)
Liquigas - Doimo (Italy)
Team Astana (Kazakhstan)
Rabobank (The Netherlands)

The following six additional teams have been invited by the Tour de France organisers directly:

Garmin - Transitions (USA)
Team RadioShack (USA)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Team Sky (Great Britain)
Team Katusha (Russia)
Cervelo TestTeam (Switzerland)

Surprisingly Team Skil-Shimano and Vacansoleil were both left out in the cold and did not gain a Tour de France wild card as a result of their many intensive stuggles in spring races this season so far.

In compliance with the agreement passed between the organisers of the main Tours and the International Cycling Union (UCI), the first 17 teams of the world ranking established at the end of 2010, according to the sporting results of the teams, will be automatically selected from 2011 and onwards. The additional teams will receive wild cards directly from the tour organisers.