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 |
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. The inaugural tour featured a prologue and five stages, and was held September 3–8, 2013.
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. 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. 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.
The race has six individual classifications, and the leader in each will wear a special jersey in similar fashion to the Tour de France: