This year, Calgary’s Tour de Bowness is set to be bigger and better than years prior.

This August, cyclists from across Canada will be competing for the coveted maple leaf jersey, given to the tournament’s winner, as Tour de Bowness hosts the 2026 Canadian Masters Road Championships and provincial time trial championships.

This is the first time the Canadian Masters Road Championship has been hosted in Alberta in four years.

The competition is a three-day event from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4, featuring a time trial, a road race and a high-speed criterium. Cycling races will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and festival fun will operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

On Saturday, events will begin with The Time trial in Cochrane, Alta at Weedon Pioneer Hall. Racers will compete individually along Horse Creek Road.

Following the time trial, Sunday’s road race will take place on a new course near the southeast edge of Calgary. Athletes will complete 11.74 km loops, with distances changing depending on their age group.

The tournament concludes Monday with the high-speed criterium taking place in Calgary’s Bowness neighbourhood. 

Bob Grunewald, race director for the event, said this year’s Tour de Bowness will look different from previous years. The event will use a slightly different category format to accommodate the 2026 Canadian Masters Road Championships.

“(The) Masters categories are five-year groupings, age 35 and up,” he said.

“Depending on what age group they’re in, it will make what category they’re in.”

Grunewald said the traditional Tour de Bowness skill-based categories will remain on the schedule, including elite men and women and the Men 1/2/3 and Women 1/2/3 categories.

“It’s all masters championships,” he said.

“In all three disciplines.”

Riders from across Canada will compete in the provincial time trial, road race and criterium for the chance to earn a Canadian championship title and wear the coveted maple leaf jersey.

The time trial will include all categories, but the results will not count toward the Tour de Bowness omnium standings.

Bringing athletes together

Throughout the weekend, nearly 300 athletes are expected to compete, with riders travelling from various provinces. Grunewald said the turnout will be larger than a typical year.  

“About 70 are coming from B.C., 25 from Ontario, 18 from Quebec, nine from Saskatchewan, and we also have riders from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.”

According to Grunewald, this year’s championship is about more than racing. 

“There’s a lot of pride,” he said.

“It’s a chance for them to meet a lot of their peers from across the country.”

For spectators attending their first cycling event, Grunewald recommends attending one specific marquee event.

“Come down to the (Monday’s) criterium. It’s probably the most exciting thing you’re going to see,” he said.

“The speed and the control are pretty amazing. It’s a closed course and the handling required is incredible.”