The third stage of the Tour of Alberta covered 182km at temperatures around the freezing point. The finish in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies was the first mountain top finish on this year's race program. And once again the riders of BORA – ARGON 18 presented themselves actively in the race.

Cesare Benedetti was again part of the leading group, initially composed of seven riders. The 28-year-old Italian won the first KOM and is now just one point behind the leader in this classification. Due to an increased speed of the favorite teams all escapees were caught while climbing the second KOM of the stage, 15 kilometers from the finish.

Through the fast pace, the field split and some 40 riders took the last kilometers together. With a late attack the day’s winner Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin) crossed the finish line just ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek), who took over the leader's jersey again. Paul Voss climbed to 17th place and jumped to 8th place in the overall standings.

Sport Director Christian Pömer comments on the stage: "That was an extreme day with temperatures barely above freezing, ice-cold rain and past snow-covered forests. Despite this, Cesare has again fought for a place in the group of the day with quite some commitment. His goal was to take over the KOM leader jersey, so he rode tactically clever on the first KOM and won it. Unfortunately, the escapees were caught before the second KOM, so that he wasn’t able to score more points. Even if he just missed to win the jersey: Hats off to his performance in these conditions.

"Paul jumped to eighth place in the overall standings with a solid performance today. Tomorrow, we’ll face the queen stage of the tour and the mountain top finish is much more difficult than the one today. Even though it’s a big challenge, we want to defend the Top10 place." 

On the fourth stage, the peloton remains in Jasper National Park and will climb to Marmot Basin Ski Resort. The final climb runs over 12km up to 1,600 meters above sea level, which is the highest point the Tour of Alberta has ever gone.