Argyle Armada

As reported by Andrew Hood in Velonews, Team Slipstream/Chipotle has earned a wild card entry into the 87th Volta a Cataluyna in Spain (its second European wild card invite this year; Criterium International from the ASO, no less).

Why is this important?

For starters, Cataluyna is on the ProTour racing calendar, and therefore, the 20 ProTour teams will be lining up for it. Its also extremely rare that a wild card spot goes to an American based team. If Oude Granny's memory serves him correctly, the last time a prestigious European race had two US based cycling teams in it was back in the day when Mercury-Viatel lined up with US Postal Service.

Regardless of the possible reason for their inclusion (Slipstream's European base being in Spain), its certainly something for the boys in argyle (and DS Jonathan Vaughters) to raise their arms about. Afterall, it matters more what you do with the opportunity rather than how you got there.