The manager of Continental women's team Lifeplus-Wahoo has said it's a "shame" there will be no British squads at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift this year, after his team did not receive an invite.
Lifeplus-Wahoo were present at both the inaugural race in 2022 and last year's edition, but were missed off organiser ASO's invite list for this August.
"We found out on social media," team boss Tom Varney told Cycling Weekly. "I was actually making dinner for the kids when one of our DS's emailed me a screenshot, and said, '[It] looks like there’s no Tour for us then.'
"One of our title sponsors also messaged me within a few minutes of that, and I had to manage that situation. It's a shame, and we don't necessarily know why at the moment. I think it's fair to say, performance wise, we've not been where we want to be this year, so I imagine that may be the main issue, but I feel like the last two years, we also made a good impression there."
In 2022, the team took the white jersey for best young rider on the opening day, and finished second in the classification last year with then 20-year-old Kiwi rider Ella Wyllie.
This year's Tour de France Femmes will count all fifteen of the women's WorldTour teams, as well as last year's two top-ranked Continental teams: Cofidis and Tashkent City. For the remaining five slots, ASO decided to invite French teams Arkéa-B&B Hotels and St Michel-Mavic-Auber93, as well as Lotto Dstny, Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi and the newly reformed EF Education-Cannondale.
As a result, there will be no British team at the race for the first time in its short, three-year history.
"I think that's definitely a shame," said Varney. "Of course, it was never guaranteed for us to be there. We've always had a plan A and a plan B, but it's been a little bit of a blow.
"It's the biggest race in the world. Everyone knows what the Tour de France is, everyone recognises the yellow jersey. I think in the last few years, we've made a good showing of ourselves. We've been there and we've been on the podium with the white jersey."
The Lifeplus-Wahoo boss added that he received an email from ASO on Thursday morning, following the social media announcement, to confirm the team was unsuccessful in gaining an invite to the race.
"Of course, we already knew," he said. "I've asked for some feedback. Whether we'll get it or not, I'm not sure, but let's see if they come back."
Cycling Weekly has contacted ASO for more details about the invite selection process.
The eight-stage race will begin on 12 August, the day after the Paris Olympics, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
