history of the Heritage Day cycle race to produce one of the most astonishing triumphs in local sports in 1997.

And to this day the decision to let the 58-year-old Payne and Aaron Schindler break away unchallenged still haunts those who opted against going after the pair when the break was made near Port Royal gas station.

The two riders stayed together all the way into Hamilton before Payne pipped the Canadian in a sprint to the finish line on Cedar Avenue. Both finished in 28 minutes, 19 seconds -- 52 seconds ahead of the second pack of Steve Sterritt, Damion Wilson, Dayna Henry and Sinclair Packwood.

In the process Payne not only became, by a long way, the oldest cyclist to win the Somerset to Hamilton race but also wrote his name in the record books as the first athlete to win both the Marathon Derby (1980) and the cycle race.

But when this year's race gets underway next Monday morning it's highly unlikely a similar scenario will unfold.

"It was bad judgement on their part,'' said national coach Greg Hopkins who was in the commentary vehicle last year but on Monday will be one of the 50 riders competing in the various categories.

"Everybody was looking around for somebody else to chase them down and one thing you shouldn't do is let Jeff Payne get in the front with his time trialling skills,'' said Hopkins.

"A lot of guys walked around with their heads hung low for a lot of weeks after that.

"I don't think you'll see that happening this year although Jeff still has to be a factor because he's riding very, very strongly.

"Obviously the chances of him doing a repeat are pretty slim based on what happened last year. I think every time anybody coughs this year it's going to be covered.'' A limit of 50 riders, by invitation only, is enforced by Police and the organisers, and the winding course will no doubt make for an exciting race.

"There are still a lot of guys who are going to try to get away early and not leave it to a sprint,'' Hopkins predicted.

"There are going to be a few interesting factors. The new change at Somerset Bridge is definitely different to going straight over the bridge. It wasn't far out of that area that Jeff Payne and Aaron Schindler started their move.'' While the recent Grand Prix attracted some top overseas riders, this race, unorthodox though it may be in its structure, is still the event that gets local cyclists and spectators excited.

"For the past five years riders have to have competed in three local races to be invited,'' Hopkins explained.

"We reduced that to two this year based on the difficulty in securing the former Base for all our calendar of events.'' Said Payne after last year's triumph: "To have a 12 mile mass start road race is almost unheard of anywhere, but that gives it a character of its own.'' Hopkins agrees: "It's the race everybody wants to win but it's not really what you would class as a road race.

"It's a race in its own entity. Just the fact that it's the Heritage Day race, the occasion and the amount of people out there, everybody wants to win it. That's what makes it so exciting and this year will be the same.'' Hopkins confirmed that all the top riders would be on the start line, including Mike Lee, MacInnis Looby, Henry, Sterritt, Whayman Butterfield and Carlos DeSilva.

One exception is Sinclair Packwood who will replace Hopkins in the commentary seat. A new crop of talented riders like youngsters Tyler Butterfield, Nuri Latham and Jonathan Herring are coming to the fore and could also be a threat.

"If it comes down to everybody together in Hamilton then you'll have to look at the sprinters like Dayna, Damion, Whayman or Carlos,'' said Hopkins.

"If it comes down to a sprint on Cedar Avenue than those guys will all be in contention. You never know what's going to happen in the race on the way down.

"The team that's travelling to Cuba a couple of days afterwards (Sterritt, Looby, Payne, Lee, Kevin Topple and Jason Krupp to the World Mini Nations Championships) will be looking to shine so there will be a lot of guys out there pushing for it.

"But I would not count out the likes of Tyler or Nuri or Jonathan being in contention this year because they are riding on an even level to the seniors at this moment. In this race anything can happen as we saw in previous years, particularly last year.''