Peter Sagan won the Prologue stage of Tour of Alberta, a time trial around Edmonton, then won the first stage from Strathcona to Camrose, and in the second stage, from Devon to Red Deer, finished third. He was the leader, with 26 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis from Australia.
Third stage, however, belonged to Rohan Dennis from team Garmin-Sharp whose win earned him the yellow jersey. Peloton that included our Peter Sagan finished 17 minutes after the breakaway group of six racers. Incredible. Peter Sagan, however, retains the green jersey of the best sprinter, and has two stages left to become an overall winner.
The four stage did not bode well for Sagan. The peloton was again 16 minutes behind the winner, Cadel Evans from Australia. The good news is that Peter retained the green jersey for the racer with most points, and he had a chance to keep it after the last stage from Okotoks to Calgary. His chances for the yellow jersey, however, were only mathematical as he was in 27th place overall, 16 minutes and 35 seconds behind the overall leader, Rohan Dennis.
Peter Sagan ended the last fifth stage, just like he started - by winning! Huge crowds in Calgary welcomed their crowd-pleasing favorite, who beat Luka Mezgec and all the other cyclists in the race. Although Rohan Dennis won the overall standings, Peter Sagan finished with the green jersey for most points in the Tout of Alberta. Thank you, Peter for the incredible performance. We have added some new pictures to the gallery below from the start of the last stage in Okotoks.
Well done, Peter and the best of luck in Montréal and Quebec City, and of course at the World Championship.
Text and Photos: Paul Carnogursky
