Eighteen UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited to the 2026 Tour de France.
The WorldTeams occupy cycling’s highest men’s professional road-racing tier, and their Tour participation is guaranteed under the event’s entry rules. The 2026 race has 23 teams in total: the 18 WorldTeams, three highest-ranked UCI ProTeams from 2025, and two additional teams selected by race organiser Amaury Sport Organisation.
That structure explains why 18 is different from the total starting field. The automatic invitations apply specifically to WorldTeams; the remaining places involve compulsory invitations for top ProTeams and organiser-selected wild cards. The teams for the 2026 Tour were announced on January 30, 2026.
The number can also be confused with earlier Grand Tour rules. In 2025, 23 teams were likewise permitted, but the distribution of ProTeam invitations changed. The stable anchor for this question is the WorldTeam category itself: all 18 teams in that top division received automatic invitations.