Climbing into the Rockies

ATour of Alberta wouldn’t be complete without a stage in the Rockies. After rolling out of Black Diamond, riders will be “treated” to Highwood Pass, the highest paved road in Canada. While the elevation is in the thousands of metres and the riders will be going up for almost 40 km, this climb is quite different from the ones that feature in European races that hit the Alps or the Pyrenees. High- quality highway construction is the reason for that. “It’s an engineered road,” Stieda says, “so it has a gradual ascent. It’s not like there are switchbacks with grades of 18 per cent.”

The climb may only have an average grade of 2.5 per cent, but it will be a grind. After the top, there’s a long downhill section. The riders, however, won’t be able to simply freewheel to Canmore. They’ll have to push on to the final 3-km uphill section that precedes the finish at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

Some riders – such as a certain cyclist from Victoria, who’s planning to ride in the Tour of Alberta – might do well in such a stage. “This is a day for more of your true GC guys from the big Tours,” Corbett says. “Somebody like Ryder Hesjedal has a time trial engine so, even though this climb tops out a long way from the line, he could help drive a group and keep them away through that downhill and valley to Canmore. It could be a good day for a guy like Ryder in that respect.”

On this stage, Stieda sees the possibly for another, more cunning rider to shine. “On Highway 1A, there’s a short, sharp hill where I could see someone like Jens Voigt attacking,” Stieda says. “Then he has 10 km to the finish, through the town of Canmore and up that Nordic Centre hill. In fact, if Jens is coming, I’ll tell him that’s where he should attack.”