Originally Posted by
hocker
How are teams chosen? I don't get why there's no LPR (Di Luca, Pettachi, etc) and Skil-Shimano (who??) is selected.
All the ProTour teams get an automatic invite unless ASO is pissed off at them for some reason. Then there are two(?) additional invitational spots. I don't know the particulars on the teams mentioned.
This is in the process of changing, btw. It used to be at the sole discretion of ASO, but a recent deal with UCI is making the selection process more predictable.