H&R Block Pro Cycling to make Tour of Alberta debut this year

With an impressive win at the Tour de White Rock behind them, the H&R Block Pro Cycling Team has been given the green light to compete at the Tour of Alberta, Canada’s most prestigious road cycling race.

According to team brass, the challenge of the high-end competition is one the team is ready for.

“The team is ready to compete at this level,” said Mark Ernsting, the team’s CEO. “Competing in the Tour of Alberta against the world’s best cyclists was our top goal for this season, and we are primed and looking forward to the challenge.”

This year’s race, kicking off September 2 and running until September 7, promises a full range of challenges for participants — including some that might be different than those encountered in previous years. Encompassing 900 kilometres of Alberta’s picturesque, big-sky country, the race traverses both rural and urban roads alike, with two intense mountain finishes and long, expansive stretches of dirt road. The event’s viewership in past years certainly testifies to its prominence: last year, an international audience of more than 45 million tuned in to watch.

One of the new features of the race is the team trial, something race officials are anticipating as a major draw. “The addition of the team time trial and our two-day stop in the Canadian Rockies have definitely contributed to the hype amongst teams this year,” said Duane Vienneau, the Tour’s executive director. “We have an unbelievable calibre of teams coming in 2015, and we are so excited to welcome Canadian [team] H&R Block Pro Cycling Team to our race for the first time.”

As its inaugural Tour of Alberta approaches, Todd McCallum, the vice president of team sponsor H&R Block Canada, echoed the enthusiasm of Tour brass from the other side. “Participating in Canada’s top professional tour will give the team the national and international exposure it has earned,” McCallum said. “Our riders are competing against some of the best in the world, which is where they deserve to be.”

After the Tour of Alberta, the team heads next to the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon.