RCS Sport has announced its wildcard decisions in January in order to facilitate the season planning that is currently taking place within the professional cycling teams. The chosen wildcard teams will take part in the respective races in addition to the 17 WorldTour teams, which have already qualified because of their status as WorldTour teams.

Commenting on the wildcard decisions, RCS Sport Head of Cycling Mauro Vegni told Roadcycling.com "As per every previous year, we reflected deeply on the wild card choices. Thanks to the quality of the teams that want to participate in our races this is becoming an increasingly meticulous process."

"On behalf of RCS Sport I would like to thank all the teams that have advanced their candidacy. This year's choices, especially for the wild cards of the Giro d'Italia, were influenced by the opportunity to support the Italian cycling movement, giving continuity to an overall process without losing sight of the goal of international development in strategic territories."

RCS Sport surprisingly decided to exclude Team Colombia from the 2015 Giro d'Italia, which will take place from May 9-31. The Colombia team has greatly animated the past two Giro editions as soon as the riders reached the climbs and was expected to be offered the opportunity to stir up the race again this year.

"We are very sorry, because we believe we deserved to race the Giro, and our performance in 2014 and 2013 stands to prove it clearly," Team Colombia manager Claudio Corti explained.

"Our goal was always to win a spot for the Giro and the Vuelta. RCS selected us for the other races, but left us out of the Giro. We are hopeful to get bigger consideration from the Vuelta a Espana organizers. Less deserving teams – either from an ethical, competitive or professional point of view – were picked instead of us. I think the history of a sports club, and of its managers, should also be a factor."

"I have the utter respect for the organizers, and a relationship of real esteem and friendship with (RCS Sport Head of Cycling) Mauro Vegni," Corti said and continued "Mauro said he wanted to sustain Italian cycling while also targeting the international development in strategic territories. Still, our team has been regularly registered in Italy for all our four years, complying with every regulation, and certainly represents a strategic target for the Giro – as a country and as a continent. For all these reasons it is hard to me to understand this decision."

While not invited to the Giro, the new German Bora - Argon 18 team was handed wildcards for this year's Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, and Giro di Lombardia.

"I am pleased that RCS has once again completely taken our wishes into consideration. We received wildcards for every race for which we applied. Tirreno-Adriatico is our most important one-week tour in the spring. The race is suited for sprinters and climbers as well as rouleurs and time trial specialists. We will certainly use it to test the core of our possible Tour de France selection," Team Bora-Argon 18 general manager Ralph Denk told Roadcycling.com.

"Being cycling monuments, Milan-San Remo in the Spring and Il Lombardia in the Fall are the cornerstones of our classics calendar. It will be only our second start in Milan, and we are therefore particularly keen to make a good impression. We have improved every year in the Tour of Lombardy and we want to take it up a notch this time as well," Denk added.

2015 Giro d'Italia Wildcards:
GIRO D’ITALIA (9 - 31 May) – 5 wild cards (22 teams of 9 riders each)
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA)
BARDIANI CSF (ITA)
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL)
NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (ITA)
SOUTHEAST PRO CYCLING TEAM (ITA) – participation right acquired by winning the Italian Cup

2015 Tirreno - Adriatico Wildcards (11-17 March):
BARDIANI CSF (ITA)
BORA – ARGON 18 (GER)
COLOMBIA (COL)
MTN – QHUBEKA (RSA)
TEAM EUROPCAR (FRA)

2015 Milano – San Remo Wildcards (22 March):
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA)
BARDIANI CSF (ITA)
BORA – ARGON 18 (GER)
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL)
COFIDIS - SOLUTIONS CREDITS (FRA)
COLOMBIA (COL)
MTN – QHUBEKA (RSA)
TEAM NOVO NORDISK (USA)

2015 Il Lombardia Wildcards (4 October):
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA)
BARDIANI CSF (ITA)
BORA – ARGON 18 (GER)
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL)
COLOMBIA (COL)
NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (ITA)
SOUTHEAST PRO CYCLING TEAM (ITA)
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (USA)

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