2013 Tour of Alberta: Stage 3 preview

The riders should check the weather before heading out on this stage. Once again, the wind could play a factor in the day’s racing. Depending on which way things are blowing, riders could have a bad day on the badlands.

From the start town of Strathmore, the riders will head north and west. They’ll hit their first climb in Rosebud. The next bit of significant geography comes at the city of Drumheller, a dinosaur-fossil mecca thanks to the erosion by the Red Deer River. The group will descend into the valley and jockey for a sprint bonus in the city. But riders shouldn’t burn all their matches there. One kilometre later, after they’ve passed through town, they’ll face the climb out of the valley and the first KOM. “You have to use your energy wisely,” Jeff Corbett, the race technical director, says. “After the sprint for the time bonus, you’re going to be on the climb very quickly. So, hopefully, you’ve caught your breath.”

North of Drumheller, the group will have some respite as the land plateaus. They’ll encounter the Red Deer River and the second KOM before they head south back to Drumheller and the finish. It’s generally a downhill run into town, so the men with the fast-twitch muscles are likely to be back in the bunch ready to sprint for the line.

When it comes to how the general classification might look at this point in the race, Stieda posits two scenarios. “It depends on who wins the prologue. If a sprinter-type rider wins it, he’ll probably have a good lead by now if he has the time bonuses in hand as well. If it’s more of a time trial specialist who wins the prologue and the sprinters are getting their time bonuses, you have a real race on your hands. There’s two different types of riders here vying for the win.”

So, it’s still looking like Peter Sagan’s race.