Tour of Alberta 2014: Stage 5 preview

Edmonton, 11-km circuit

In 2013, the Tour of Alberta opened with a time trial prologue in Edmonton. It was a 7.5-km rip around town that took riders on the climb past the Alberta legislature. Peter Sagan got the fastest time on the stage.

This year, the old route gets roughly an additional 5 km and a few changes in direction to turn it into a circuit. “Circuits are great for spectators. You can claim your spot and see riders multiple times. You can move around the course and see them descending, climbing, turning, sprinting – whatever you want to see,” race technical director Jeff Corbett says.

Riders will now come down past the legislature and ride west along the North Saskatchewan River. Then they’ll round the western edge of Victoria Park to face a 1 km climb of 4 per cent. And that’s the easier climb. Earlier on the route, riders will come down Rossdale Road NW and will have to scrub most of their speed to make the 180-degree turn onto Bellamy Hill Road NW. They’ll climb for about 600 m on a slope that averages 8 per cent, but can get as steep as 28 per cent. Riders will face these climbs 10 times.

“It’s going to take its toll over the course of the day,” Corbett says. “It wouldn’t be that bad if you just had to do it one or two times. But when you do it over and over and over again, it makes the circuit challenging. A lot of guys could punch up that hill last year in the prologue, but they only had to do it once. They’re going to have to do it a lot this time and with five days of racing in their legs.”