Rohan Dennis claims inaugural Tour of Alberta

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) showed off both his speed and bike-handling skills Sunday in Calgary on his way to taking out the final stage of the 2013 Tour of Alberta in a sprint finish. Argos-Shimano's Luka Mezgec was second, followed by UnitedHealthcare's Robert Forster.

Garmin-Sharp's Rohan Dennis finished safely in the field to hold onto the overall win on the final day ahead of BMC's Brent Bookwalter by 18 seconds and Cannondale's Damiano Caruso by 30. The 23-year-old Australian track racing prodigy said his overall win at the race was completely unexpected but very welcome.

"It was always a goal of mine to come here and run really well in the prologue and perform well and try to earn a spot for the Australian worlds team," he said. "But like BMC we were always thinking it was a sprinter's race, and Peter Sagan has been performing really well in [the USA Pro Challenge in] Colorado. So it's really a great honor to be able to come home with a win. It will always remain really close to me, and hopefully I can come back next year to prepare for worlds and try to back up my win this year."

Sagan's prowess in the sprints was on display again Sunday in Calgary after he boldly cut inside of Forster through the final corner. From that point the Slovakian champion had a clear line to the finish.

"After I had four laps to see the finish, I thought it was better to take the front through the last turn because it was very fast and also just a few meters to the finish," Sagan said. "When we came through the last left turn we were two on the front, but I went through there without braking and maybe [Forster] was braking. I don't know, but after the turn I was alone."

How it happened:

The closing 130km stage started in Okotoks and led riders through the flatlands of southern Alberta to the finish in downtown Calgary, where they looped around the city over four laps of the 3.5km finishing circuit.

A breakaway of eight riders slipped away 32km into the stage, but the sprinters' teams didn't give the escapees much rope. The gap held just above a minute for most of the day, as Belkin, Cannondale, Argos and UnitedHealthcare rode tempo on the front and kept the peloton within striking distance.

Included in the group were James Stemper (5-hour Energy/Kenda), Chad Haga (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies), Nic Hamilton (Jelly Belly), Craig Lewis (Champion System), Fummi Beppu (Orica-GreenEdge), Adam Farabaugh (Equipe Garneau-Quebecor), Carter Jones (Bissell Pro Cycling) and Kristofer Dahl (Smart Stop-Mountain Khakis).

The leaders made it to the outskirts of Calgary, but the gap was down to just 15 seconds as they hit the first of the circuits. Beppu, Stemper and Farabaugh sensed the impending catch and jumped away from the group, but their chances looked bleak as the pack bore down through the streets of Calgary.

The trio held a 10-second gap with two circuits remaining, but Stemper went down on a straightaway after a touch of wheels when he looked back to check their gap on the field. The pack then caught the remaining two leaders just as they took the bell for the final circuit.

Argos-Shimano hit the front for Mezgec, then UnitedHealthcare moved forward in the final kilometers. But it was all for naught as Sagan's move inside of Forster through the final corner proved decisive, and he powered his way to the line for his 21st win of the season.

Bookwalter, who started the day 18 seconds down on Dennis, finished sixth on the stage and claimed second overall, but he couldn't claw back any time or time bonuses during the stage. Nevertheless, Dennis said that seeing Bookwalter near the front of the pack in the finale caused a few moments of concern.

"I was looking at the clock because I didn't want any time gaps," Dennis said. "I didn't really think it was over until I crossed that line. It was less than 18 seconds, and I saw that Peter had won the stage, and so I knew that was 10 seconds that definitely wasn't going Brent's way. So, yeah, once I saw that and crossed the line it was a really good feeling."

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