The Tour of Alberta today announced an initial list of five teams that will compete in the six-day UCI 2.1 race that takes place September 2-7 in the western Canadian province.
The Orica-GreenEdge team of 2014 overall winner Daryl Impey will return, as will Giant-Alpecin, whose Tom Dumoulin led last year's race from the opening time trial to the final sprint, where Impey captured the stage win and time bonuses that pushed him into the final overall lead by just one second. Other teams on the initial list include Cannondale-Garmin, Team Katusha and Drapac Professional Cycling, the top Australian Pro Continental squad.
“With the UCI Road World Championships being held in North America only two weeks after our race, the most elite teams see the Tour of Alberta presented by ATB Financial as their last chance to prepare,” said Duane Vienneau, the race’s executive director. “The addition of the Team Time Trial and our two-day stop in the Canadian Rockies has definitely contributed to the hype amongst teams this year.”
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Giant-Alpecin will return to the race with hopes of avenging the stinging defeat last year, when Impey won the soggy final stage in Edmonton and slipped past Domoulin to win the overall by the smallest of margins.
“Last year we were close to winning the Tour of Alberta, and that has only made us more motivated to chase victory this year again,” said Giant-Alpecin team director Aike Visbeek. “We will be sending a strong team. It will be interesting to see how the new course will influence the race. The riders are very motivated to race again in Alberta.”
Team Katusha General Manager Viatcheslav Ekimov said his squad is looking forward to their debut in Alberta.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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