July 27, 2013 (Camrose, Alberta) – An exciting range of Alberta culture, food and entertainment will be at the heart of 10 community festivals held at each start and finish line for the six days of the inaugural year of the Tour of Alberta, September 3 to 8, 2013.
Working with local organizing committees, Alberta Culture and Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, the 2013 Tour of Alberta festivals will showcase a wide variety of Alberta food products and cuisine, Alberta performing artists and travel experiences each day.

While the start and finish festivals are a standard part of pro cycling events around the world, the entertainment and cultural experiences for participants will be enhanced in Alberta thanks to a $250,000 investment from Alberta Culture. An additional $250,000 investment from Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation will boost culinary experiences around the race by involving Alberta food products, producers and professional chefs in all Tour activities, including the festivals and the opening and closing gala events.

“The Tour of Alberta is an opportunity for our communities and province to shine,” said Alberta Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk. “We’re proud to lend our support to an event that will boost our cultural and tourism industries and showcase Alberta on the world stage.”

“The Tour of Alberta will be more than a celebration of sport.  It will showcase our province as we share our spirit and stories through festivals along the route,” said Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation Minister Dr. Richard Starke.  “The Government of Alberta’s investments in the festivals program will allow Albertans and visitors to enjoy our western hospitality, talent, and home-grown products, while showing the world that we welcome everyone to experience Alberta first-hand.”

In addition to enhancing the overall Tour experience for the cyclists and spectators, the Tour of Alberta is also partnering with Travel Alberta and local Destination Marketing Organizations to help ensure Alberta will be showcased and promoted around the world.

In Canada, Sportsnet will broadcast two hours of the race live each day, and feature a daily highlights program and repeat programming of the race. Internationally, details are being finalized to have the Tour broadcast in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America.

“The festivals for the Tour of Alberta promise to be bigger and better than anything the cycling world has seen before, thanks to the support from the province, and in general the enthusiasm of everyone involved,” said Tour of Alberta Chair Brian Jolly. “With daily themes ranging from the Wild West in Edmonton to Global Fare in Calgary, race spectators and up to 35 million television viewers in Canada and 100 million households around the world will be treated to all the best Alberta has to offer.”

In recognition of the support from the Rural Alberta Development Fund (RADF), Travel Alberta, Alberta Culture and Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, the province of Alberta will be the title partner for the Leader’s Jersey for the inaugural year of the Tour of Alberta.

Cycling fans and festival goers will also have the opportunity to meet the newest member of the Tour of Alberta team, Swifty the Fox. Until recently, the swift fox was a locally extinct species in its home province of Alberta, but is now starting to return to the prairies. One of them, Swifty, will soon be a familiar face to cycling fans across the province and around the world.

Details on the food themes, culinary experiences and entertainment for each day and for individual communities will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event, and available on-line at www.tourofalberta.ca

Tour of Alberta officials also released the revised route for Stage 4 of the race, originally scheduled to start in Black Diamond, travel up Highway 40 through the Highwood Pass and finish in Canmore. Due to road and bridge damage in the June 21 flooding, while Highway 40 will be open to public traffic, some sections of the road will not be safe for professional cyclists travelling at speeds of up to 100-kilometres an hour.

“Working with officials from Alberta Transportation, the Town of Black Diamond and the Municipal District of Foothills #31, we are pleased to announce a revised route that offers some unique challenges to the cyclists in terms of climbs, and makes for an exciting event for spectators,” said Tour of Alberta Executive Director Duane Vienneau.

“Starting in Black Diamond, the route will include a large 60-kilometre circuit through the foothills that gives way to a smaller 40-kilometre circuit, loaded with challenging terrain, that cyclists will do twice before a fast race to the finish back where they started in Black Diamond.”

Fifteen of best professional cycling teams in the world will be competing on the 900-kilometre 2013 Tour of Alberta route, including: Team Argos-Shimano (Netherlands); Belkin Pro Cycling Team (Netherlands); BMC Racing Team (USA); Cannondale Pro Cycling  (Italy); Team Garmin-Sharp (USA); Orica GreenEDGE (Australia); Champion System Pro Cycling Team (China); UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team (USA); Bissell Pro Cycling (USA); Canadian National Team (Canada); 5-Hour Energy p/b Kenda Racing Team (USA); Equipe Garneau-Quebecor (Canada); Jelly Belly p/b Kenda Racing Team (USA); Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies (USA); and Team SmartStop p/b Mountain Khakis (USA), which will feature Making the Tour Champion, Kris Dahl from Calgary.

Eight riders from each team will compete in the Tour of Alberta. The final roster of cyclists for each team will be announced in August.

Official Stage maps and more information on the Tour of Alberta can be found here. Follow the Tour of Alberta on Twitter @TourofAlberta or on Facebook at TourofAlberta.

About the Tour of Alberta
The Tour of Alberta: Canada’s Pro-Cycling Festival is a six-day stage race scheduled to be held September 3 to 8, 2013.  The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling’s governing body, awarded the inaugural Tour of Alberta with a 2.1 sanctioning in September 2012, making it one of the highest level pro cycling events in Canada, and one of the highest level events in North America. An annual event beginning in 2013, the event will be broadcast live daily in Canada on Sportsnet, and broadcast internationally on various networks, as it is expected that the event will host riders from over 20 countries around the world.