French team Sojasun-Equipe has been granted the last Wildcard for this year’s 77th edition of the Tour de Suisse the race organizers announced yesterday. It will be the first time the French team takes part in the Swiss stage race.

“The Sojasun team will compete against the UCI WorldTour teams and IAM Cycling with equal chances of success,” said director Rolf Huser on the race website when explaining the invitation for the French team. “Both Julien Simon and Jonathan Hivert are likely candidates for a stage win.”

21 teams will take to the starting line at the Tour de Suisse this year; 19 WorldTour teams and two invited teams; Swiss IAM Cycling and French Sojasun. Last year saw 20 teams participate in the Tour de Suisse but the organizers have chosen not to reduce their number of wildcards despite the enhancement of WorldTour teams created when the UCI was forced to reinstate Katusha as a WorldTour team.