Defending champion Bauke Mollema will return to the Tour of Alberta next month, with Canadian Ryder Hesjedal and Frank Schleck among his Trek-Segafredo teammates.
The US-based team will face a tough challenge from Cannondale-Drapac, the only other WorldTour team in the race, and a handful of hungry Pro Continental and Continental teams.
Leading the Cannondale attack will be Canadian Olympian and Tour of Utah stage winner Michael Woods, two-time Tour of California stage winner Toms Skujins, rising US star Lawson Craddock and journeyman Alex Howes.
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Mollema won last year’s race with an impressive performance in the mountain stage and consistent riding throughout. This year’s race is a much flatter affair, with multiple sprints likely and the general classification of the five-day race left to time bonuses and the stage 4 individual time trial. Mollema will also have the services of Peter Stetina, Gregory Rast and Stijn Devolder.
"We’re bringing a strong team to Alberta, for sure,” Hesjedal said. “I’d like to think I could be that guy for our team for the race, but you have to remember this is a professional sport. The guys with the best legs and feeling the best are the guys you need to support. It’s about winning.”
Hesjedal, who, as winner of the 2013 Giro d’Italia is the only Canadian to have won a Grand Tour, raced in support of Mollema last year. His only other appearance at the race came in 2013, when he finished 60th overall. As his career nears its end, he’d no doubt like to add Alberta to his palmares, but he said nothing is certain in cycling.
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