Dutch squad Argos-Shimano and French teams Europcar, Cofidis and Saur-Sojasun have all been handed wildcard entries to this year's Tour de France.
Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) confirmed on Friday that the four squads would be joining the 18 WorldTour squads in the race to bring the total to 22.
Argos-Shimano's entry into the Tour sets up the prospect of its sprint talent Marcel Kittel coming up against Mark Cavendish in the bunch finishes.
The 2012 Tour de France starts in Liege, Belgium, on Saturday June 30 and concludes three weeks later on Sunday July 22 in Paris.
Tour de France 2012: Team list
Ag2r La Mondiale
Argos-Shimano
Astana
BMC Racing
Cofidis
Europcar
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Farnese Vini-Selle Italia
FDJ-BigMat
Garmin-Barracuda
GreenEdge
Katusha
Lampre-ISD
Liquigas-Cannondale
Lotto-Belisol
Movistar
Omega Pharma-QuickStep
Rabobank
RadioShack-Nissan
Saur-Sojasun
Saxo Bank
Sky
Vacansoleil-DCM
Related links
Goodbye Project 1t4i, hello Argos-Shimano
Cycling Weekly's Tour de France news section
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