A master of the breakaway, often in the biggest classics, and the winner of a World Tour race this year, Rory Townsend may have made incremental progress every year in his career, but he is yet to ride a Grand Tour.
However, that may all be about to change for the Irish road race champion. And his Grand Tour debut could be at the very biggest show in the cycling world; the Tour de France with his new team, Unibet Tietema Rockets.
Townsend rode as UCI Continental team rider for nine years before almost quitting the sport, only to win his first Irish title in 2022. He then secured his first contract in the paid ranks, with ProConti team Bolton Equities Black Spoke.
And though he has ridden with ProConti team Q36.5 Pro Cycling for the last two years, it rode just two Grand Tours during that time; this year's Giro and Vuelta.
Advertisement
Townsend was selected for neither but now his new team, French-registered ProConti outfit Unibet Rose Rockets, he may be in line for a Tour de France start.
The team's switch from Dutch to French registration and its lively social media content - which perhaps has greater appeal to younger fans - have made it an emerging favourite to secure a wild card invite to the Tour this year.
Tour owners, ASO, and French TV channels are always concerned more younger viewers must be attracted to the race as the audience has been ageing for many years.
Related News
That Unibet Tietema Rockets has signed Wout Poels and Dylan Groenewegen, the latter with six Tour stage wins in his palmares, has strengthened the team's hand as it bids for a Tour start. It has also secured the signature of French Grand Tour stage winner Victor Lafay - with one victory at both the Giro and Tour.
Though Townsend will still face stiff competition in securing a place on the eight-man roster at the Tour, his breakaway rides in the major classics, and his win at ADAC Cyclassics (1.UWT) in August, make him a strong contender.
ProConti teams must finish in the top 30 teams in the end of year rankings to be eligible for the wild card invites to the Tour. Unibet Tietema Rockets targeted UCI points this year and made the top 30.
Alongside them, competing for the three Tour wild card invites for next season are: TotalEnergies, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Team Polti VisitMalta, Burgos Burpellet BH, Equipo Kern Pharma and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.
Unibet Tietema Rockets has already made its feelings clear, about really wanting to ride the Tour as soon as possible.
"There’s no clear date for when the Rockets will line up in the Tour de France. What we can promise: we’ll be ready the moment the chance comes," the team said during the summer.
"By ready, we don’t just mean riding along. We mean ready to fight for stage wins. Because being there is cool, but being there to win is even better."
