Garmin’s Rohan Dennis wins inaugural Tour of Alberta

Kirsten Frattini September 8, 2013

Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) won the overall title at the inaugural Tour of Alberta in Sunday. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) came in a close second place and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) secured third.

“This was 100 per cent unexpected,” Dennis said. “Everyone was saying that it was too flat to get rid of Peter Sagan. It was expected to be a sprint everyday. It’s a huge honour to be the first-ever winner of the Tour of Alberta. Since I had the yellow jersey, my teammates were on the front every day and they controlled the race perfectly.”

Sprint sensation Peter Sagan (Cannondale) sprinted to his third victory of the stage race in the Stage 5 finale on the streets of Calgary. He crossed the line first ahead of Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) and Robert Forster (UnitedHealthcare) in third.

“Our expectation was to do well, but not do too much work on the front,” Sagan said. “Today started really fast and everybody wanted to go in the breakaway. We worked with Belkin and Argos-Shimano to catch the breakaway on the circuit. On the last lap, I wanted to be on the front to go for the finish. I went through the last turn without braking. I don’t think this is something you learn. You are born with it. If you have fear, you cannot do this.”

Dennis also won the best young rider competition and Sagan also won the sprint competition. Ryan Anderson (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies), who finished in the top 10 overall, won the best Canadian rider competition and Tom Jelte Slagter (Belkin) won the king of the mountain competition.

“This Canadian award is pretty special, but we wanted to be on more podiums,” Anderson said. ” We were still hungry. It’s definitely special for our team and for me to get a jersey. I was glad to be here for the first year. I am not surprised by the support. Alberta is known for getting behind sporting events.”

The Tour of Alberta concluded with a fast and technical circuit-style race from Okotoks to Calgary. It was a relatively short race at 129.4 km that included one final king of the mountain ascent over Rt. 762 and an intermediate sprint on the finishing circuits.

An active start to the race gave way to a breakaway that included Canadians Nic Hamilton (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) and Kris Dahl (Smart Stop presented by Mountain Khakis), Fummi Beppu (Orica-GreenEdge), Craig Lewis (Champion System), Carter Jones (Bissell), Adam Farabaugh (Garneau-Quebecor), Chad Haga (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) and James Stemper (5-hour Energy presented by Kenda).

The breakaway gained just over a minute on the main field that was led by teams with strong sprinters. Garmin-Sharp led the way ahead of riders from Cannondale, UnitedHealthcare, Belkin and Argos-Shimano.

Three breakaway riders; Stemper, Beppu and Farabaugh held a 10-second lead on the circuits in Calgary. Stemper overlapped wheels with one of his breakaway companions and crashed with one lap to go. The field, setting up for the bunch sprint, caught the two remaining breakaway riders on the way to the finish where Sagan won the gallop to the line.

Stage results:

Peter Sagan (Cannondale)
Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano)
Robert Forster (UnitedHealthcare)

Overall classification:

Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp)
Brent Bookwalter (BMC)
Damiano Caruso (Cannondale)