Vuelta a Espana

The last grand tour of the cycling season has come to an end marking the finish of the road racing season for many professional cyclists.  The Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) is the last of the three grand tours of the season, the other two being the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.  This year's Vuelta a Espana was won by an American rider named Chris Horner.  This is the first ever win for an American in the Vuelta, and maybe more importantly, Chris Horner is the oldest rider to ever win any grand tour.  He is 41 years old just a few weeks shy of his 42nd birthday.  The next oldest grand tour winner was Fermin Lambot, who won the 1922 Tour de France at the age of 36.  This gives hope to the older riders in the peleton, that there can be success on the bike after your mid 30's.

The first Tour of Alberta is over.

The inaugural Tour of Alberta has come to an end.  It started on Tuesday September 3rd in Edmonton and ended yesterday Sunday the 8th in Calgary.  The 115 bike racers on 16 elite cycling teams from around the world.  The Tour of Alberta (TOA) was the first time a race like this has been held in Canada.  Its UCI (International Cycling Union) sanctioning was what attracted the high caliber of global competition.  Even with the Tour of Spain happening at the same time the TOA managed the draw popular pro cyclists like Peter Sagan, Cadel Evans, and Ryder Hesjedal.
In the end the overall title was one by Australian youngster Rohan Dennis.  He was in a break away group on stage 3 where he finished over 10 minutes ahead of Peter Sagan and secured his lead.  The rest of the tour was spent protecting his lead by staying out of harm's way while trying not to lose time to his closest competitors.

Peter Sagan put on a show as he won the final stage yesterday in Calgary.  He is known for his finish line celebrations and yesterday's was no exception.  I think it's great that he incorporated the local cowboy culture at the end.