Tour of Alberta a success locally and provincially

The numbers are in and they show the 2016 Tour of Alberta was a success in Lethbridge and across the province.

The local organizing committee and the Alberta Peloton Association shared final reports with Lethbridge City Council on Monday.

The five-day professional cycling race took place in six municipalities across the province. Stage 1 was held in Lethbridge on Sept. 1, 2016 with a nine-lap, 11.9kilometre circuit race.

Council approved $300,000 from the Major Event Hosting Grant towards the event. They learned more than $25,000 would be returned to the grant fund as the event came in under budget.

Local committee chairperson Chris Witkowski said the local Stage 1 was “phenomenal.”

“We had great weather. We had a great turnout. The cycling fans, and the community as a whole, showed their support for this race and showed how great Lethbridge is for hosting these major events.”

Witkowski estimates the event made a $4.4-million impact to the city’s economy from hotels to restaurants and meeting spaces. Provincially, the economic impact was estimated at almost $18.9 million.

“Of course the racers were here for about four days beforehand so we got a little bit more than some other communities,” said Witkowski. “We got a lot of feedback from people who saw the cyclists training or going into the restaurants and coffeehouses. It generated a lot of excitement.” Over 175 race day volunteers contributed more than 2,000 hours to the event. The City also held several activities in the week leading up to race day including a Family Cycling Day and a Tour Opening Gala.

Last week, organizers announced the 2017 Tour of Alberta would be hosted with three stages in Edmonton and one in Jasper National Park.

Witkowski said he knows Tour of Alberta organizers want to come back to Lethbridge in the future and isn’t ruling out the possibility in 2018.