THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the infamous Ballot Box Martyrs, and as part of activities planned to mark the occasion is the annual cycle road race set to pedal off tomorrow morning.

The 55-mile race will roll off from Freedom House, New Amsterdam, at 09:00hrs, proceed to the Corriverton Police Station and return to Number 63 for the finish.
While cyclists in the Open division will ride that course, the veteran, upright and female riders will start at Freedom House, New Amsterdam, at the same time with the seniors, but finish on the upward journey at Number 63.
The first six finishers in the Open category, as well as the leading three in the junior, veteran, mountain bike and female divisions and the top veteran over-60 participant, will all receive prizes.
Eight prime prizes will be up for grabs during the course of the race with the in-form Alanzo Greaves set to defend his title in the Open race.
He won last year’s event in a time of two hours 12 minutes 59 seconds (02h:12m:59s).
The other winners from last year are Raul Leal (junior), Raymond Newton (veteran), Niall Kingston (mountain bike) and Jamal Yearwood (Under-14 open).
The event, which is being sponsored exclusively by Corentyne businessman Chris Jagdeo, will see members of the People Progressive Party/Civic give the cyclists the ceremonial send-off at New Amsterdam and assist in the presentation of prizes at Number 63.
The race is being organised by national cycling coach, Hassan Mohamed, and transportation for cyclists and officials will leave the Sport Ministry’s office at 91 Middle Street at 05:00hrs on Sunday for Berbice.
Meanwhile, the riders will be in action today at the inner circuit of the National Park for the staging of the second annual Banks Malta Supreme 11-race programme. The race was originally billed for last Saturday, but had to be postponed due to heavy rainfall in the city.
Among the events this Saturday are the 12-14 Boys and Girls (three laps), Veterans Under-50 (five laps), Over-50 (five laps) and Over-60 (five laps), Juveniles (10 laps), Mountain Bikes (five laps),  BMX 6-9 (two laps), 9-12 (three laps), 12-14 (three laps) and Open (three laps) and the feature 35-lap School Boys and Invitational.
The experienced Robin Persaud is the defending champion of the feature race. He won last year’s event in a time of one hour 20 minutes 05.97 seconds (01h:20m:05.97s). Alonzo Ambrose (Juveniles) and Virgil Jones (Veterans Under-50) also won their respective categories.
At the conclusion of the races, Malta Supreme Brand Manager Clayton McKenzie and Banks DIH Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart will assist in the presentation of prizes to the top performers.