The organizer of Sunday's Via Italia Bike Races hopes being part of a new festival on Erie St. E will attract more spectators.
With live music on the street and extended patios Friday and Saturday, Pete DiPonio hopes some festival-goers will return Sunday.
The races already promise to be bigger.
"We've had more early sign-ups than we've had in previous years, so we're looking forward to a big day," DiPonio says.
By Wednesday, 80 cyclists had registered compared to 60 ahead of the 2015 event. DiPonio says while 170 competed last year, he expects more than 200 this time around.
The circuit is well known by cyclists across Ontario, and he says one group, arriving from Ottawa-Gatineau, includes a rider from South Africa.
The start and finish line is on Erie St. E between Marentette Ave. to Elsmere Ave. From Erie, the racers will head down Parent Ave. to Giles Blvd. E and over to Howard Ave. before returning to Erie St. The entire course is 1.8 km and cyclists will make multiple circuits around it.
The races start with a 5 km fun run at 11:30am Sunday morning. The first race for elite cyclists starts at 1pm, followed by the women's race, a race for kids and the master race.
The big event, for professionals, senior cyclists, elites and master level competitors starts at 5pm and is expected to wrap up at 7pm.
