AUBURN – Top professional and amateur bicycle racers will be returning to Auburn on June 3 and 4 for the Emerson Toyota Road Race and the T&M Mortgage Criterium.

The weekend sponsored by Maine Cycling Club is expected to draw 300 to 400 of the best cyclists in the Northeast. Now in its fifth year, the event has become a fixture on the New England racing calendar.

This year’s Emerson Toyota Road Race will take place Saturday, June 3. Racers will compete on a hilly, 24-mile loop encompassing Lake Auburn, Taylor Pond and parts of Minot and Turner. The race will start and finish at the Auburn Land Lab on Holbrook Road. Racing will start at 9:30 a.m.

The T&M Mortgage Criterium runs Sunday, June 4 in downtown Auburn. The racers will compete on a closed, one-mile circuit, covering 15 to 35 laps depending on classification. The course will begin on Court St. , turn left up High St., left down Elm St. and left onto South Main St. The Criterium is slated to run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday’s event will also offer a free kids’ race for youngsters from 3 to 8 years of age.

Spectator admission to the events is free. The races are sanctioned by the United States Cycling Federation. For course maps and flyers, go to www.mainecyclingclub.com.

For more info, call John R. Grenier at 784-7576.