2015 Tour of Alberta press conference gallery

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The top riders for the third edition of the Tour of Alberta gathered in Grande Prairie ahead of the opening team time trial Wednesday to discuss the six-day 2.1 race with the press. 

Overall favourites Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing), Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin and Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) were all in attendance at the press conference, with Hesjedal holding court as the local WorldTour rider. Combined with Davide Formolo, Cannondale-Garmin pose a double threat to the overall, and Hesjedal is confident his team can make it mark on the race.

"Definitely the races in Jasper are exciting, and I hope to be in the mix and contesting the overall, or a high overall placing, you know, looking at winning a stage and just getting the most that we can out of the team," Hesjedal told Cyclingnews on the eve of the race.

The Tour of Alberta will be Mollema's first stage race since the Tour de France, where he finished seventh overall. The Trek climber, who will be a teammate of Hesjedal's in 2016, will benefit from the inclusion of two mountain stages. 

Orica-GreenEdge will start the race with the dual ambitions of supporting Clasica San Sebastian winner Adam Yates in the mountains and recently married Michael Matthews in the sprints. The Australian team is missing defending champion Daryl Impey in 2015, as the South African is currently occupied with the Vuelta a Espana.

Canadian riders Michael Woods and Ryan Anderson (Optum Pro Cycling) were also in attendance at the press conference and are two riders who have proved themselves more than capable of mixing it up with their WorldTour rivals.