The Grand State of Cycling
I usually don’t like grand pronouncements.
They have a way of being heavy on bombast and light on substance. But, I think this grand pronouncement is justified: cycling in Canada is hitting a high-water mark.
On the professional side, the first Tour of Alberta is running Sept. 3 to 8. (See p.50 for a complete guide to the race.) It will feature six WorldTour teams and nine pro continental and continental teams. The six- day race is the culmination of 10 years of thinking and planning by Alex Stieda. It will not only showcase the province and the sport to fans like me and you, but it’s sure to build more fans, especially in the Tour’s host towns and cities. Fort Saskatchewan, Black Diamond and Drumheller, to name a few, are set to host festivals, and rightfully so. What other high- quality sporting event is free to watch on the streets of your town?
The Tour of Alberta is not only a great event for today’s riders, but the next generation, too. The Making the Tour program – designed by ToA and Jamie Bennett of SmartStop presented by Mountain Khakis – will have Calgary rider Kristofer Dahl joining Bennett’s team as stagiaire. The young Alberta rider will truly be the “hometown” favourite. For an even younger generation, the Tour of Alberta has made Tour-related activity books for grade-school children. It introduces them to the sport. After perusing the booklet, I must say can’t think of a better way to teach geography and physics than through cycling. (No doubt, I’m a little biased.) Lucky kids in Camrose and Devon will be getting out of school to see the race pass through their towns. I hope that these kids get inspired, as our contributor Stephen Cheung ( p.10 and 26) was when he watched Steve Bauer in the 1984 Olympics.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I forgot the two races in Quebec that have been a fixture of the WorldTour for the past three years. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal have shown that world-class cycling events can thrive in our country.
On the amateur side of things, this year seems to be the Year of the Gran Fondo, with many debuts and established ones going strong. There are mass-start events pegged to races, such as the cyclosportives attached to the Quebec Grand Prix events, and others paired with festivals, such as the Gran Fondo Forillon. For a sample of mass-start events across the country, see the calendar on p.15.
From pro races to fondos, there’s a lot to celebrate, which is pretty grand.