Tour of Alberta: Huffman wins opening stage

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Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) pulled off an incredible heist in the opening stage of the Tour of Alberta, going solo on the final climb from the breakaway and hanging on for the win.

On the only summit finish of the race, and with three sprint-friendly stages remaining, the margin of Huffman's victory could well be sufficient to keep him in the race lead through the final stage.

Huffman's teammate Sepp Kuss held off the chasers to take second on the stage, while Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Drapac) attacked just ahead of the final kilometer, blowing past the remnants of the breakaway to take third on the stage.

The victory was another success for Huffman after an already strong season that included stage wins in the Tour of California and Cascade Classic and the overall Tour of the Gila.

The overall Tour of Alberta could well be the next notch in Huffman's belt.

"I think the time bonuses could play a factor, but I know we're first and second and we have a really strong team that's capable of controlling [the race]," Huffman said. "We're going to ride the front and play defense, and I'm pretty confident we will be able to keep the GC all the way to the last day."

How it unfolded

The 162km opening stage took place entirely within Jasper National Park, taking the peloton around three laps of a 48km circuit past glacier-fed alpine lakes and majestic Rocky Mountain peaks. After three loops the race turned upward to Marmot Basin Ski Resort for the first and only summit finish of the race,

The stage included no intermediate sprints, and the only KOM points on offer came at the top of the final 14km climb.

The day started in the town of Jasper and then a short trip onto the loop, where a group of 14 riders escaped the bunch 40km into the race. Among the group were two riders from Cannondale-Drapac, two from UnitedHealthcare, two from Holowesko-Citadel, two from Rally Cycling and two from Silber Pro Cycling. Medelin-Inder, Silber, Jelly Belly and H&R Block also had representation in the move.

The group built a lead of nearly two minutes on the first loop, but the advantage was down to just 35 seconds as they started the second loop. The gap blew up again on the second lap, shooting up to 2:35 as the leaders went thought the feedzone halfway through the stage.

The field picked up the pace from there, and the gap was down to 1:45 at the start of the third loop with 60km remaining.

Holowesko breakaway riders Oscar Clark and Ty Magner jumped away from the group, and over the next 10km the duo built a 20-second advantage over the 12 chasers as the race approached the bottom of the final climb. The field remained 2:30 back.

Just before the leaders turned onto the final climb, Magner fell off his teammate's pace and Clark continued on alone. The remnants of the breakaway were just behind, and the field was still 2:20 back. Clark succumbed to the chasers with 10km to go, and a lead group of 12 was back on the front of the race with the field forming the first chase.

Huffman jumped away from the group, and Jelly Belly's Taylor Shelden took off in pursuit, dangling just behind as they continued on the climb. The field was still two minutes back behind a chasing group of nine.

Shelden faded fast, however, as Huffman continued to press the pace, opening a gap of 25 seconds on the first chase, while the field still lagged behind. With 4km to go, Huffman had 25 seconds on Shelden and 45 seconds on the remnants of the break.

At the end, he had 15 seconds over Kuss while Slagter came in at 28 seconds.

"We tried to come from behind in the last climb, but we just couldn't make it," Slagter said. "I finished third, so I'm happy with the legs, but not with the results."

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