Tour of Alberta
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | September |
| Region | Alberta, Canada |
| Local name(s) | The Tour |
| Nickname(s) | Canada's Race |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI America Tour |
| Type | Stage race |
| Organiser | Alberta Peloton Association |
| Race director | Duane Vienneau |
| History | |
| First edition | 2013 |
| Editions | 4 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Rohan Dennis (AUS) |
| Most recent |
 Robin Carpenter (USA) |
The Tour of Alberta is a Canadian bicycle stage race, which races across the province of Alberta. It is sanctioned by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and is part of the UCI America Tour. It is classified as a 2.1 race, making it one of the highest rated races on the tour.[1] The inaugural tour featured a prologue and five stages, and was held September 3–8, 2013.
History
The Tour of Alberta is the brainchild of former professional cyclist Alex Steida, who was the first North American cyclist to wear the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France. After moving to Edmonton, Steida felt that the local geography and the ability of residents to "roll up their sleeves and get stuff done" made the province an ideal place for a multi-stage race and he spent nearly a decade promoting the idea.[2] The idea began to take shape in 2012 when proponents secured support from the Rural Alberta Development Fund, which believed such a race could promote the province to a world audience.[3] The proposed race was sanctioned by UCI in late 2012 and given a 2.1 classification, making it one of the highest rated events on the UCI America Tour.[1]
Classifications
The race has six individual classifications, and the leader in each will wear a special jersey in similar fashion to the Tour de France:[4]
Yellow jersey: General classification (overall leader)
Green jersey: Sprint classification
Polka dot jersey: Mountains classification
White jersey: Young rider classification
Red jersey: Canadian rider classification
Blue jersey: Most aggressive rider
General classification results
| Year | 1st place | Team | 2nd place | Team | 3rd place | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rohan Dennis (AUS) | Garmin–Sharp | Brent Bookwalter (USA) | BMC Racing Team |  Damiano Caruso (ITA) | Cannondale |
| 2014 |  Daryl Impey (RSA) | Orica–GreenEDGE |  Tom Dumoulin (NED) | Giant–Shimano |  Ruben Zepuntke (GER) | Bissell Development Team |
| 2015 | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Trek Factory Racing |  Adam Yates (GBR) | Orica–GreenEDGE | Tom-Jelte Slagter (NED) | Cannondale–Garmin |
| 2016 | Robin Carpenter (USA) | Holowesko Citadel Racing Team | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Trek–Segafredo | Evan Huffman (USA) | Rally Cycling |
Winners
| Year | Yellow jersey |
Green jersey |
Polka dot jersey |
White jersey |
Red jersey |
 Yellow number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rohan Dennis (AUS) |  Peter Sagan (SVK) | Tom Jelte Slagter (NED) | Rohan Dennis (AUS) |  Ryan Anderson (CAN) | BMC Racing Team |
| 2014 | Daryl Impey (RSA) |  Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU) | Simon Yates (GBR) | Tom Dumoulin (NED) | Ryan Anderson (CAN) | Garmin–Sharp |
| 2015 | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Michael Matthews (AUS) | Ben Perry (CAN) | Adam Yates (GBR) | Mike Woods (CAN) | Cannondale–Garmin |
| 2016 | Robin Carpenter (USA) | Colin Joyce (USA) | Danilo Celano (ITA) | Colin Joyce (USA) | Alexander Cataford (CAN) | Silber Pro Cycling Team |
References
- 1 2 Babin, Tom (2012-12-17). "Tour of Alberta bike race holds a lot of potential | Calgary Herald". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
- ↑ Cowley, Norm (2013-08-30). "Edmonton's Alex Stieda shifted Tour of Alberta into gear". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
- ↑ The journey to the Tour of Alberta. Official Event Guide. Tour of Alberta. 2013. pp. 10–11.
- ↑ Official race jerseys. Official Event Guide. Tour of Alberta. 2013. p. 19.