Tour of Alberta 2014: Stage 1 preview
Even though Wednesday’s Stage 1 is a circuit around Lethbridge, a city new to the Tour of Alberta, Jeff Corbett, the race’s technical director, sees similarities to 2013’s third stage from Strathmore to Drumheller. The section around last year’s finish city took the riders into and out of the Red River Valley, twice. In Lethbridge, the peloton will face the descent and climb from the Oldman River Valley, six times.
The stage starts in the city’s downtown at the south end of Galt Gardens. The course then goes south along Scenic Drive before looping back north. Just after Scenic Drive and 9th Avenue N, the route takes a left down toward Peenaquim Park. The climb out of the park is about 1.5 km with an average grade of 5 per cent, but it has sections in the 15 per cent range.
Last year’s Drumheller stage was a decisive one. Rohan Dennis won and took the overall lead, which he held to the end. Corbett doesn’t think the Lethbridge stage will determine the winner, but some riders will lose time. “This circuit is certainly a challenging one, a circuit that would be worthy of a national or a worlds course,” he says.
Todays menu @TourOfAlberta in Lethbridge is hill repeats with a side order of wind. The big climb – a km long grind. pic.twitter.com/okSDfXJhkU
— Canadian Cycling Mag (@CDNCyclingMag) September 3, 2014
