The ATB Tour of Alberta was a Canadian bicycle stage race, which raced across the province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

. It was sanctioned by

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

(UCI) and was part of the

UCI America Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. It was

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

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. On February 15, 2018 the Alberta Peloton Association announced that the event was being cancelled.

History

The Tour of Alberta was the brainchild of former professional cyclist

Alex Steida Alexander Nicholas Ernst Stieda (born April 13, 1961) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Canada. Stieda led five classifications of the Tour de France on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France: the general classification, the ...

, who was the first North American cyclist to wear the Yellow Jersey in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. After moving to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

, 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.

Classifications

The race had six individual classifications, and the leader in each wore a special jersey in similar fashion to the

: * Yellow jersey: General classification (overall leader) * Green jersey: Sprint classification * Jersey polkadot

Polka dot jersey:

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

* White jersey: Young rider classification * Red jersey: Canadian rider classification * Blue jersey: Most aggressive rider

Results

General classification

Other classifications

References

External links

* {{Tour of Alberta Cycle races in Canada UCI America Tour races 2013 establishments in Alberta Recurring sporting events established in 2013 2018 disestablishments in Alberta Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2018