# Tour of Alberta



## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Woohoo!

I've finally seen some of the details for the stages of the Tour of Alberta (our first local experience with pro-level international level racing / UCI sanctioned events). I'm pumped as the stages include many of the areas I normally ride for training rides and the first day of the Alberta Ride to Conquer Cancer which I am doing next weekend. 

Kinda adds a bit more spirit and motivation when you know the pros are coming to ride on the same roads you do 

I know these guys (teams from Garmin-Sharp, Orca, possibly BMC, etc) would blow by me if I ever met up with them on the road...but seeing how I'lll likely never ride any of the roads used for the Giro or Tour de France, this is pretty cool to have the pros come local


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

If I still lived out in Edm, I would be volunteering to work at that race in a second. I hope it will be televised somewhere so I can watch it. I am so excited this is happening in Canada and would love to see it keep gaining speed. 

Go Ryder!!!!!!!!!!

It would be nice to see all the pro teams that have Canadian riders on it come out. I think it would really promote road biking here.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

I just went on their website and it looks like Orica is coming so hopefully Svein will be there. I don't see Europcar listed as a team. I would have been nice to have David & Christian racing.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Start list for the Tour of Alberta:

Evans, Sagan, Hesjedal on 2013 Tour of Alberta preliminary startlist - VeloNews.com

Some good names and Garmin is sending a great team! I hope it's a success and continues, Canada needs a good stage race.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY!

Canada will be in the spotlight for it's first stage race. Good luck to all the riders (especially Ryder!). I wish I still lived in Edmonton to watch it.


----------



## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Aw yeah....I will be there today (and wishing I could get away tomorrow) for the local stages (well, prologue and Stage 1). At least I know what they are in for when it comes to Stage 5 (reverse of Day 1 of the Ride to Conquer Cancer this year)


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Wow, the winner of the Prologue was a surprise. No end to his talents.


----------



## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Rich Gibson said:


> Wow, the winner of the Prologue was a surprise. No end to his talents.


Yeah, Peter Sagan was flying last night.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

There is already one article in the newspaper about the traffic tie ups from the race. Geesh people, don't you read the news and prepare for the closed roads????


Kids stranded for hours by Tour of Alberta traffic - Edmonton - CBC News


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

MercRidnMike said:


> Yeah, Peter Sagan was flying last night.


Sagan will win the whole thing, with time bonuses etc.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Rich Gibson said:


> Wow, the winner of the Prologue was a surprise. No end to his talents.


why? It's not like he has not won a short TT with a hill before.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

55x11 said:


> Sagan will win the whole thing, with time bonuses etc.


That's my prediction. This course was made for him. Really pisses me off with all the beautiful mountains that they couldn't have had a couple of mountain stages. I understand the one mountain stage was changed due to the floods, but couldn't they have made another mountain stage.


----------



## bitterertundra0 (Jun 17, 2012)

the


love4himies said:


> That's my prediction. This course was made for him. Really pisses me off with all the beautiful mountains that they couldn't have had a couple of mountain stages. I understand the one mountain stage was changed due to the floods, but couldn't they have made another mountain stage.


I'm of the same opinion. I like that all the start and stop locations are easily accessible from or within the two major cities in Alberta. This should open up live viewing opportunities to a lot of people. I'm walking distance from the finish line in Calgary so I'll be there to watch Sagan take the stage and overall win. This is all well and good for the locals, but overall what matters is whether or not the sponsors are happy. More mountains would be more exciting for TV viewership. More TV viewers equals more money equals better chances of having the tour back next year.


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

bitterertundra0 said:


> the
> 
> I'm of the same opinion. I like that all the start and stop locations are easily accessible from or within the two major cities in Alberta. This should open up live viewing opportunities to a lot of people. I'm walking distance from the finish line in Calgary so I'll be there to watch Sagan take the stage and overall win. This is all well and good for the locals, but overall what matters is whether or not the sponsors are happy. More mountains would be more exciting for TV viewership. More TV viewers equals more money equals better chances of having the tour back next year.


That was the same with the USA challenge. No mountain stage finishes and it significantly changes the nature of the tour. While I like Sagan immensely, the sanctioning organization should not knuckle under to make the races fan friendly and end in/near population centers.


----------



## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

Rich Gibson said:


> *That was the same with the USA challenge. No mountain stage finishes *and it significantly changes the nature of the tour. While I like Sagan immensely, the sanctioning organization should not knuckle under to make the races fan friendly and end in/near population centers.


Where do people get this info? The Beaver Creek and Vail stages both were mountain finishes and if you noticed, not won by Sagan.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Mootsie said:


> ] were mountain finishes and if you noticed, not won by Sagan.


Which is why I think it is so important that the organizers got in at least 2 mountain stages.


----------



## bitterertundra0 (Jun 17, 2012)

Anyone else get a chuckle out of Ryder's lap "win" today?


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

bitterertundra0 said:


> Anyone else get a chuckle out of Ryder's lap "win" today?


That was absolutely hilarious. I think the riders behind him were wondering WTF he was doing. 

His tweet right after:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Loving <a href="https://twitter.com/TourOfAlberta">@TourOfAlberta</a> It has me feeling like a junior again after 15 years pro <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23messedthatfinishup&src=hash">#messedthatfinishup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23firsttimeforeverything&src=hash">#firsttimeforeverything</a></p>— Ryder Hesjedal (@ryder_hesjedal) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryder_hesjedal/statuses/375373702012993536">September 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Gotta love that guy!


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

A little late to the show I finally found the Alberta Tour Tracker (thanks!). Where are the mountain stages? How about some climbing finishes? I'm probably Sagan's biggest fan, but what's the point of all this?

Rich


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Rich Gibson said:


> A little late to the show I finally found the Alberta Tour Tracker (thanks!). Where are the mountain stages? How about some climbing finishes? I'm probably Sagan's biggest fan, but what's the point of all this?
> 
> Rich


The one mountain stage had to be changed due to the flooding earlier in the summer. I was very disappointed in the route seeing as they have the rockies right there. It would have been awesome to see them do the Columbia Icefields Parkway. The scenery down in the Drumheller region is going to be beautiful.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Just read on tour tracker that the winds are "brutal" in Strathmore area, so I checked the Weather Network and they are only 20km, with gusts to 32km. Seriously, that's what they call brutal? That's the norm for the Kingston area  Come on guys, HTFU.


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Well, I knew it was too good to be true. All the Alberta tour tracker site is printed text with a map. The "live" is a running narrative every few minutes. Rats. I was hoping for live streaming like with the USA challenge. Nothing on Youtube yet either.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Rich Gibson said:


> Well, I knew it was too good to be true. All the Alberta tour tracker site is printed text with a map. The "live" is a running narrative every few minutes. Rats. I was hoping for live streaming like with the USA challenge. Nothing on Youtube yet either.


I know. Normally on Sport Lemon TV you can get the live race if shown on Eurosport, but it's not on their either. Sportnet is suppose to be showing it, but I'm at work while it's on.


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

love4himies said:


> I know. Normally on Sport Lemon TV you can get the live race if shown on Eurosport, but it's not on their either. Sportnet is suppose to be showing it, but I'm at work while it's on.


I'm curious about that. I did subscribe to three months to cyclingtv.com but they have shown penny ante races; not really worth the price. The other streaming links seem to be gambling related. Is sportnet different?

Thanks, Rich


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Rich Gibson said:


> I'm curious about that. I did subscribe to three months to cyclingtv.com but they have shown penny ante races; not really worth the price. The other streaming links seem to be gambling related. Is sportnet different?
> 
> Thanks, Rich


Sportnet is part of our satellite TV package (Canadian) which is televising it here in Canada. Sport Lemon TV is what I watch on line. http://www.sportcategory.com/c-11.html ( you need an ad blocker though)


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

WTF, can anybody confirm that the peloton was *16* minutes back from the lead group? What did they do, stop for coffee?

Edit:

The GC has just been updated and I guess it's true. Unless something drastic happens, Ryder, Peter & Cadel are out of the GC.


----------



## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Youtube's got the Stage 2 race; a bit over an hour; horrid quality.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Rich Gibson said:


> Youtube's got the Stage 2 race; a bit over an hour; horrid quality.


OK, thanks. Can't believe in this day & age they can't get better video. Maybe they need to go to Europe and take some lessons.


----------



## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

love4himies said:


> WTF, can anybody confirm that the peloton was *16* minutes back from the lead group? What did they do, stop for coffee?
> 
> Edit:
> 
> The GC has just been updated and I guess it's true. Unless something drastic happens, Ryder, Peter & Cadel are out of the GC.


From the Universal Sports coverage, it was a pretty good cross wind battle that split the field up, mostly before the TV coverage started. A group of 12 got away, 6 more joined up. Then that group of 18 split at the last KOM point with 6 going ahead. BMC had 4 guys in the break, a lot of other teams had 1 or more, so I think not much impetus to chase from the rest.


----------



## bitterertundra0 (Jun 17, 2012)

There is actual video coverage on Tour Tracker today!
Tour of Alberta Tour Tracker


----------



## Chris T (Jul 19, 2002)

Saw the finishes in Red Deer on Thursday and Calgary yesterday. What a great race and great show those guys put on. Yes, there were no mountain stages, but the flat windy stages offered other challenges and it wasn't as straightforward as many thought it would be.

For a cycling fan, this was a dream come true. Alberta isn't exactly a huge cycling province, so it was easy to get up close and chat with the riders when they were hanging out after the stages. Most folks had no idea who they were!

Overall, an extremely well run event. I've been watching procycling on tv for many many years now, and this was run as a pro sporting event. The crowds were great, the athletes were great, the volunteers and organizers were great. Can't wait for it to come back in 2014 (hopefully!).


----------



## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

Was a good show, was able to get close, probably too close. Next year they might think about adding some more barricades.

Wonder what riders thought about the finish with all the laps downtown, an awful lot of 90 degree corners over the final push.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

DarkSaturn said:


> View attachment 286480
> 
> 
> Was a good show, was able to get close, probably too close. Next year they might think about adding some more barricades.
> ...



To me, the tight corners made it all more exciting due to the technical difficulty at the speeds they do. Sagan was so great to watch going around the corners. What a rider he is.

Do you have more pics that you could post?


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Chris T said:


> Saw the finishes in Red Deer on Thursday and Calgary yesterday. What a great race and great show those guys put on. Yes, there were no mountain stages, but the flat windy stages offered other challenges and it wasn't as straightforward as many thought it would be.
> 
> For a cycling fan, this was a dream come true. Alberta isn't exactly a huge cycling province, so it was easy to get up close and chat with the riders when they were hanging out after the stages. Most folks had no idea who they were!
> 
> Overall, an extremely well run event. I've been watching procycling on tv for many many years now, and this was run as a pro sporting event. The crowds were great, the athletes were great, the volunteers and organizers were great. Can't wait for it to come back in 2014 (hopefully!).


Alberta in general, is a great place to live. I think even if they aren't big on cycling, they are big on outdoor events. Hopefully this will encourage more people to cycle as it is such a beautiful place. I would have loved to have been there to see even one stage.


----------



## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

love4himies said:


> To me, the tight corners made it all more exciting due to the technical difficulty at the speeds they do. Sagan was so great to watch going around the corners. What a rider he is.
> 
> Do you have more pics that you could post?


I've got a bunch, will post some more when I get home.


----------



## Chris T (Jul 19, 2002)

DarkSaturn said:


> Was a good show, was able to get close, probably too close. Next year they might think about adding some more barricades.
> 
> Wonder what riders thought about the finish with all the laps downtown, an awful lot of 90 degree corners over the final push.





love4himies said:


> To me, the tight corners made it all more exciting due to the technical difficulty at the speeds they do. Sagan was so great to watch going around the corners. What a rider he is.


Great pic DarkSaturn! Mine are all ipad photos, so not as good, but still memorable for me! I agree, the tight corners made it more exciting. Sure didn't seem to slow them down or cause any crashes (luckily it was dry!). Sagan taking that final corner at full speed was something else. What a great bike handler. I was about 50m down from the finish line at both stages, so got to see the riders come through at full speed and within what felt like inches!



love4himies said:


> Alberta in general, is a great place to live. I think even if they aren't big on cycling, they are big on outdoor events. Hopefully this will encourage more people to cycle as it is such a beautiful place. I would have loved to have been there to see even one stage.


Well, there was certainly more than one complaint about the tie up of traffic. Guess that would happen anywhere. I do hope it gets more people out on their bikes. All of the bigger cities (Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge) have tons of trails. And Alberta has the widest shoulders on the highways you've ever seen. Quite easy for a 2-wide group ride!

Overall, I think it did a good job of showcasing areas outside of the mountains (i.e. where we actually live!). The great weather really helped.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

DarkSaturn said:


> I've got a bunch, will post some more when I get home.


That would be great.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Chris T said:


> Well, there was certainly more than one complaint about the tie up of traffic. Guess that would happen anywhere. I do hope it gets more people out on their bikes. All of the bigger cities (Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge) have tons of trails. And Alberta has the widest shoulders on the highways you've ever seen. Quite easy for a 2-wide group ride!
> 
> Overall, I think it did a good job of showcasing areas outside of the mountains (i.e. where we actually live!). The great weather really helped.


I moved from St Albert to Kingston back in 2003, boy I still miss Edmonton and of course, Jasper (worked at NAIT). Alberta really takes quality of life into consideration when planning their cities.


----------



## DarkSaturn (May 11, 2007)

*More Photos*

Unfortunately most of my photos are slightly blurry, after the first pass I opened my lens up too far to try and compensate for the speed - should have raised the ISO instead so I didn`t loose so much Depth of Field. First time photographing a race, know for next time. Was more concerned with missing them go by then mucking with my settings - looked okay in the viewfinder. They work for web, but don`t think I`ll be printing anything.








Fumiyuki Beppu (Orica-GreenEdge), Adam Matthew Farabaugh (Equipe Garneau-Québecor) and Jim Stemper (5-hour Energy-Kenda). First lap downtown.








Peleton on the first lap.








One lap before Stempers went down, nearly at the same location. Might have detected a cause for the wheel touch.















Couple shots of the head of the peleton trying to reel them in.








Race marshall advising cycling Mike Tyson not to get in the path of the race.


----------



## Chris T (Jul 19, 2002)

DarkSaturn said:


> View attachment 286533
> 
> One lap before Stempers went down, nearly at the same location. Might have detected a cause for the wheel touch.


Ha! Perfect timing. Couldn't see the crash from my location, but he seemed quite happy after recovering and crossing the line. Perhaps he stopped for a chat !


----------

