The third edition of the Tour of Alberta won’t be pulling any punches when the peloton rolls up to the start line of the six-day race scheduled for September 2-7. The 2015 route, announced Thursday via teleconference, will easily be the toughest to date.
Opening with a 19.6km team time trial at the northern end of the province in Grande Prairie, the 2015 race will feature its first-ever mountaintop finishes during stages 3 and 4, and it has nearly 60km of gravel and dirt roads lined up for stage 5.
Although last year’s overall battle came down to the time bonuses on offer during the final sprint on the final day, there may be a few more chances for the general classification riders to distance themselves from each other during the 2015 race.
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“This is a whole different tour entirely,” said Team SmartStop’s Rob Britton, a Canadian who recently won the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico and finished 10th at the Tour of California.
“With the team time trial on stage 1, a proper mountain-top finish on stage 3 and then with stage 4, who knows what will happen there, it’s going to make for an amazing race. You’re never just going to be able to sit down and relax.”
The race will travel to the north end of the province for the first time in its three-year history. Grande Prairie, about four hours northwest of Edmonton, will host the 19.6km team time trial – or roughly half the distance of the TTT course that will be used for the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, later that month.
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