Tour of Alberta’s four gruelling stages set
Peter Verhesen can’t help but get the racing bug this time of year.
The ATB Tour of Alberta brings back a lot of memories for the 1990 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, who is now the ATB Tour of Alberta’s chairman.
He’s also seen the Union Cycliste Internationale race become a staple to help develop the sport within Canada.
“The Canadian riders are starting to see that if you perform at this race, you can do well internationally,” said Verhesen, who helped unveil the four-stage course on Tuesday.
“We see it as an anchor for our development in Canada within this sport.”
This year’s Tour of Alberta race is set to hit Alberta roads Sept. 1-5. The 546-kilometre multi-stage race wraps up in the heart of downtown Edmonton at Sir Winston Churchill Square.
There are some familiar courses back again this year that will bring many different challenges to the forefront. Stage 1 is a remake of one of the stages in 2015. It’s a 165-km trek starting in Jasper and running through Jasper National Park before ascending to the top of Marmot Basin Ski Resort.
“The mountain top finish in Day 1 will really break up the field,” said Tour of Alberta president and CEO Scott Fisher. “You have strong climbers who are able to go on that day and the guys that excel on flatter surfaces may lag behind, but the next day they’ll get an opportunity to lay down the hammer.”
The riders will hit the open road in Stage 2 through the flat and rural areas of Spruce Grove and Parkland County. The course may be flat, but the always tough prairie road conditions could bring different challenges to the riders over the 140-km stage.
“What are the winds going to be doing that day? If there is a strong wind in the open prairies, the wind can act basically like a mountain,” said Fisher.
The cyclists will then head into Edmonton for the final two stages. The third stage is an 11-lap circuit course that features two climbs up and down the river valley and along Groat Road. That will be a gruelling test for the cyclists over the 116-kilometre course.
The final stage is a 124-kilometre stretch that has become the Tour of Alberta’s tradition that features tough climbs up Bellamy Hill and through Edmonton’s river valley. In the last three races, the overall winner has come through on the Tour’s final stage.
“The final stage is always difficult because there is so much climbing, but without a time trial this year, it’s going to make each stage very competitive,” said Vergesen.
The field has yet to be finalized, but it’s expected that last year’s champion, Robin Carpenter of the United States will be back to defend his title. It should once again be a star-studded field mixed in with many of the top young talents in cycling.
The Tour of Alberta is entering its fifth year and it’s become a race that has catapulted the careers of many up-and-coming cyclists.
Carpenter came out of nowhere last year to take home the victory. In past years, cyclists like current world champion Peter Sagan, Tom Dumoulin and Bauke Mollema have all made their mark at the Tour of Alberta.
“We’ve had Tom Dumoulin win the Tour of Italia this year, and he finished second the first year we had it,” said Vergesen. “There have been a lot of great riders that have been in this race that have gone on to bigger things.”