Image 1 of 6 2015 MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung team kit (Image credit: MTN-Qhubeka/Jens Herrndorff ) Image 2 of 6 Jim Songezo of MTN - Qhubeka leads the chase (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 3 of 6 Caja Rural - Seguros RGA (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 6 The 2015 Cofidis team (Image credit: Cofidis) Image 5 of 6 Team Europcar in the TTT at the Vuelta a España (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 6 of 6 Team Colombia heads to the start (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)

The organisers of the Vuelta a España today announced the five teams that will join the 17 WorldTour teams in the 2015 edition of the race. As expected, Spain's only Pro Continental team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA was one of the five. Also in the list are two French teams, Europcar and Cofidis, Team Colombia and the MTN-Qhubeka squad, which also earned wildcard bids in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

Last year Luis Leon Sanchez won the mountains classification while riding for Caja Rural, and while he transferred to the Astana squad ahead of this season, the team still is home to Luis Mas, who was voted most combative rider on two stages in 2014.

Colombia was elated with the news after missing out on bids for the Giro and Tour. “It is a great day for us as a team, and we will be honored to bring the Colombian flag at the start of the Vuelta a Espana," manager Claudio Corti said. "For us, it is another big step ahead in our team’s evolution: after racing the Giro twice, we have now managed to earn the confidence of Unipublic, something we cannot wait to pay back with three weeks of aggressive racing in August and September.”

Teams for the 2015 Vuelta a España:

WorldTour teams:

AG2R La Mondiale (FRA)

Astana Pro Team (KAZ)

BMC Racing Team (USA)

Etixx - Quick Step (BEL)

FDJ (FRA)

IAM Cycling (SUI)

Lampre – Merida (ITA)

Lotto Soudal (BEL)

Movistar Team (ESP)

Orica GreenEdge (AUS)

Team Cannondale - Garmin (USA)

Team Giant - Alpecin (GER)

Team Katusha (RUS)

Team Lotto NL-Jumbo (NED)

Team SKY (GBR)

Tinkoff - Saxo (RUS)

Trek Factory Racing (USA)



