Canadian line-up for inaugural Tour of Alberta

There will be 21 Canadian cyclists on the start line at the inaugural Tour of Alberta. The event begins on Sept. 3 in Edmonton and will conclude on Sept. 8 in Calgary.

Highlighting the roster is 2012 Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal racing for ProTeam Garmin-Sharp. He has had multiple injuries and illness that have disrupted his season but he is focused on ending this year with strong performances at the Tour of Alberta and the WorldTour events Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montreal.

His fellow countryman on Professional Continental outfits include Champion System’s Zach Bell and Ryan Roth, Garneau-Quebecor’s Bruno Langlois, Michael Woods, Pierrick Naud, Simon-Pierre Gauthier, Alexandre Cataford and Geoffroy Dussault.

Canadians in the Continental ranks are Jelly Belly presented by Kenda’s Nic Hamilton, Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Ryan Anderson and SmartStop presented by Mountain Khakis’  Kristofer Dahl and Ben Chaddock.

Cycling Canada Cyclisme is fielding a team that includes Hugo Houle, Will Routley, Rob Britton, Antoine Duchesne, Stuart Wight, Ryan Aitcheson, Jean-Sebastien Perron and Garret McLeod.

The start list:

UCI Pro Teams:
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Cadel Evans L
Brent Bookwalter
Marcus Burghardt
Amael Moinard
Steve Morabito
Lawrence Warbasse
Silvan Dillier
Jakub Novak

Team Garmin-Sharp (USA)
Ryder Hesjedal
Thomas Dekker
Rohan Dennis
David Millar
Lachlan David Morton
Fabian Wegemann
David Zabriskie
Christian Vande Velde

Orica GreenEDGE (AUS)
Pieter Weening
Cam Meyer
Jens Keukilere
Aidis Kroupis
Fummi Beppu
Tomas Vaitkus
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Jiyong Kang

Cannondale Pro Cycling (ITA)
Peter Sagan
Damiano Caruso
Edward King
Michel Koch
Nariyuki Masuda
Brian Vandborg

Team Argos-Shimano (NED)
Patrick Grestsch
Jonas Ahlastrand
Thomas Damuseau
Simon Geschke
Koen De Kort
Tobias Ludvigsson
Luka Mezgec
Michael Olsson

Belkin-Pro Cycling Team (NED)
Robert Gesink
Jack Bobridge
Jetse Bol
Marc Goos
Moreno Hofland
Steven Kruijswijk
Tom Jelte Slagter
Dennis Van Winden

UCI Professional Continental Teams:
Champion System Pro Cycling Team (CHN)
Zachary Bell
Ryan Roth
Clinton Avery
Chad Beyer
Chris Butler
Matthias Friedemann
Craig Lewis
Fu Shiu Chueng

United Pro Health Care Cycling Team (USA)
Benjamin Day
Robert Forster
Davide Frattini
Aldo Ilesic
Christopher Jones
Luke Keough
Jeffrey Louder
John Murphy

UCI Continental Teams:
Bissell Pro Cycling (USA)
Jason McCartney
Jeremy Vennell
Carter Jones
Frank Kevin Pipp
Andrew Dahleim
Tommy Nankervis
Nicholai Brochner
Kirk Carlsen

Equipe Garneau-Quebecor (CAN)
Bruno Langlois
Michael Woods
Adam Farabaugh
Pierrick Naud
Simon-Pierre Gauthier
Michael Chauner
Alexander Cataford
Geoffroy Dussault

Jelly Belly p/b Kenda (USA)
Charles Huff
Benjamin Wolfe
Sean Mazich
Emerson Oronte
Fred Rodriguez
Jeremy Powers
Serghei Tvetcov
Nic Hamilton

Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies (USA)
Ryan Anderson
Michael Friedman
Chad Haga
Ken Hanson
Thomas Soladay
Eric Young
Tom Zirbel

Team SmartStop p/b Mountain Khakis (USA)
Eric Marcotte
Kristofer Dahl
Travis McCabe
Benjamin Chaddock
Flavio De Luna
Clay Murfet
Shane Kline
Bobby Lea

5 Hour Energy p/b Kenda Racing Team (USA)
Francisco Mancebo Perez
Robert Sweeting
Taylor Shelden
David Williams
Max Jenkins
James Stemper
Andres Diaz
Shawn Milne

Canadian National Team (CAN)
Hugo Houle
Will Routley
Rob Britton
Antoine Duchesne
Stuart Wight
Ryan Aitcheson
Jean-Sebastien Perron
Garrett McLeod