The Vuelta a España has announced the three wildcard teams invited to this year's race, with Burgos-BH, Euskaltel-Euskadi, and Caja Rural-Segros RCA all set to race the Spanish Grand Tour.

The selection means that only one of Spain's four UCI pro teams, Expo Cologne-Farma, which will be new to the category in 2021, will not be on the start line for the Vuelta a España, which will kick off on August 14 in the northern city of Burgos ...

Nineteen WorldTour teams automatically qualify, with Belgium-registered Alpecin Phoenix earning the final spot in the 23-team Vuelta a España as the winner of the 2020 ProTeam ranking.

France and Italy followed a similarly patriotic wildcard selection policy, with Arcare-Samsic, Total-Direct Energie, and B&B Hotels-Vital Concepts all competing in the Tour, while in Italy, Eolo-Cometa, Bardiani-CSF-Faizane, Vini Zabu were selected, while Androni-Sidermec and Gazprom-Rusvelo missed out.

Caja Rural Seguros RGA will participate in the Vuelta a España for the 10th consecutive time in professional team history. As for Euskaltel Euskadi, this invitation is a big step forward for the Basque team, as they only returned to the pro team category last season after several years as a continental team.

"To compete in the Vuelta for the tenth consecutive year is a source of great pride and inspiration," Juan Manuel Hernandez, manager of the Caja Rural Seguros RGA, told Spanish website Ciclo21 on Tuesday. 'It's the most important race of the season.'

"We appreciate the efforts of the organizers, as the current system of wildcard invitations does not offer any benefits to any professional team.

There is no doubt that Burgos-BH has strong ties to the starting city of the 2021 Vuelta, where the team took a stage win in Jabalambre two years ago with climber Angel Madraso in the Sierra of Toledo.