Stewartry Wheelers in conjunction with Kirkcudbright Festivities Committee will be holding the first criterium race to be held in Galloway for thirty years, on the streets of Kirkcudbright this Sunday. Local stars already signed up include Neil Little, Andy Webster and Liam Warner for Stewartry Wheelers; Dennis Anderson will be riding for Anderson Racing; Steve Martin and Tommy Lockhart will lead the charge for Classic Walls; Dumfries Cycle Club will field Alisdair Cook. Entries are still open and we're expecting a good field, with £200 pounds in prize money awaiting the cnampions of the day.

The start/finish line will be outside the Masonic Arms on Castle Street. From there racers will ride round the castle, Down the High Street past the Tollbooth, and back into Castle Street. The race will start at 3pm and will last for one hour plus six laps.

A criterium is about excitement and spectacle. A typical cycling road race is over a very long distance, and any spectator at the roadside sees the riders go past once an they're gone. On the Kirkcudbright course the riders will be coming past in a blur of colour every two minutes, and sprinting for a prize every fifteen. The riders will be racing at speeds of up to thirty miles per hour.

The best places to spectate will be between the Masonic Arms and the Castle, and outside the Tollboth. For their own safety, spectators are asked not to cross the road while the race is in progress, except at designated crossing places which will be outside the Police Station, by the War Memorial, and outside the Church Hall. At each crossing point there will be marshals to advise you when it is safe to cross.

Stewartry Wheelers is the Stewartry's cycling club. We're grateful for support from Castle Douglas Cycle Centre in making this event possible.

For more details: Simon Brooke, 01556 640155