EDMONTON – Nearly a dozen communities will be the envy of Alberta when the 2013 Tour of Alberta winds its way across the province, starting with Edmonton on September 3rd and ending in Calgary on September 8th.
During those six days, the race – modelled after the renown Tour de France and the Giro D’Italia – will take cyclists throughout rural Alberta as well as the Rockies, visiting the villages, towns and small cities along the way.
“We hope that it will be a grand production for all of Alberta. What a way to showcase our province to the competitors. They will be in awe of the lands they will travel through,” says Morris Flewwelling, the mayor of Red Deer, where the eleven host cities were announced on Tuesday.
An estimated 300,000 spectators will line the 850 kilometre route as the world watches.
Invitations have already gone out to some elite professional cycling teams, but the athletes who will be taking part won’t be announced until closer to the event. They’ll be housed in Edmonton for the first half of the race, and in Calgary for the second half.
“The tourism impact will be huge,” says Lindsay Harrison with the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. “The racers will be in Edmonton for a few days so obviously they’ll be the heads in beds..and then with the prologue event being in Edmonton and the racers coming back to the city after stage one and two, it’s going to be a huge economic impact for the city.”
Edmonton’s economic impact is expected to be about $10 million of the province’s $35 million dollars.
For more information about the event, visit the Tour of Alberta website.
With files from Laurel Clark, Global News
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