Only three squads will be invited to the Tour.

Professional Continental teams IAM Cycling, NetApp-Endura, Bretagne-Séché, Cofidis, Europcar, and Sojasun will be vying for wildcards for the 100th edition of the most important race on the calendar later this year Tour de France organizer, ASO, announced earlier today.

Traditionally the race has granted four wildcards with all of the elite 18 WorldTour teams obtaining automatic admission into the Tour. However, the situation was altered when Katusha was granted WorldTour status last month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), leaving ASO with 19 WorldTour teams to invite. CAS’s verdict annulled the UCI’s Licence Commission which had refused Katusha qualification for the top tier of the sport on ethical grounds.

IAM Cycling is a newly formed Swiss team with Heinrich Haussler and Thomas Lovkvist in their roster. They have already tasted success with an overall win at the Tour Méditerranéen after Lovkivst nicked the lead on the final stage.

The NetApp-Endura squad was established from two separate 2012 squads, and has yet to claim a win this season. Cofidis, Europcar, and Sojasun were all awarded wildcards for the 2012 Tour de France. Each of the six teams will have a chance to appear in ASO's pre-Tour de France races, with Paris-Nice starting this weekend with Cofidis, IAM Cycling, Sojasun, and Europcar appearing on the start list.