Tour of Alberta to debut in 2013

North America has a new UCI-ranked stage race for 2013 with the debut of Canada's Tour of Alberta, slated for September 3-8. The UCI 2.1-ranked, six-day event's position on the calendar will provide an ideal bridge between the UCI 2.HC-rated USA Pro Challenge, taking place August 19-25 in Colorado, and the two Canadian WorldTour races, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal scheduled for September 13th and September 15th respectively.

According to The Province, retired Canadian cycling star Alex Stieda is working with an Edmonton group to bring the stage race to fruition and the event has a funding commitment of approximately $2 million from the Alberta government.

The race route will be unveiled on October 15 in Edmonton.

With its UCI 2.1 ranking, the Tour of Alberta will be the highest rated stage race in Canada for next season. The country's other UCI multi-day event is the 2.2-rated Tour de Beauce, scheduled for June 11-16 next year.