Gallery: Giro d'Italia pre-race press conference

As the start of the Giro d'Italia rapidly approaches on Saturday, the stars of the Giro d'Italia peloton gathered today in Naples for a pre-race press conference at the Castel dell'Ovo.

Defending champion Ryder Hesjedal along with fellow general classification contenders Bradley Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali, Michele Scarponi, Sammy Sanchez, Robert Gesink and Cadel Evans appeared together on stage, all eager to add their name to the Giro trophy as 2013 champion.

The peloton's fast men such as Mark Cavendish, Matt Goss, Nacer Bouhanni and Elia Viviani fielded questions, too, as well as other likely candidates for Giro stage wins such as Taylor Phinney and Giovanni Visconti.

Click here to view the press conference gallery.

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