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ATTLEBORO -- The competition at Saturday's 15th annual Attleboro Bicycle Criterium was fierce. From the children's races held in the grass in the inside of the criterium course to the Pro 1-2-3 race, the excitement level never waned in the 8 1/2 hours that cycling took over the area surrounding the Willett School.

While the older riders were fortunate enough to race on the kilometer-long stretch of paved roads, paced by a Chrysler Sebring Touring edition donated to the event by Tarbox, the kids' races were held on grass - not the most favorable of racing surfaces, especially for those using the street-designed racing bikes similar in style to the ones of their parents.

The 10- to 11-year-old race was the most competitive as the rules were changed so they would race for not three laps, as the younger children had, but four laps.

At the start, Ian Keogh, an 11-year-old from Sandwich, got off to an early lead, the thick tires of his normal bicycle seeming to have the advantage over the racing bikes of his competitors. With two laps to go, Alexander Marzot, a 10-year-old from Concord dressed in full racing garb complete with sunglasses and bicycle racing shoes, passed Keogh and began to pull away. Marzot, who races for the New England Bicycle Club/CycleLott, fended off another surge from Keogh on the final lap to finish first.

"This surface is rough for these types of bikes," said Mark Stockwell, whose son Zachary finished third in the 10 to 11-year-old race. "It definitely took some air out of their tires."

Being rooted on by their families alongside the grass course, the young racers certainly looked the part of professional cyclists. Children as young as 4 wore sponsored uniforms and rode professional-looking bicycles.

"Some of these kids' racers have been racing since they were 'this high,' " children's race organizer Meesha Crowther said, holding a hand up to her waist. "Now they're actually part of club teams."

Unfortunately for the criterium, the children's races' entrants were down this year, which race promoter and organizer Sandy Martin attributed to other conflicting happenings.

"Usually we get plenty of local kids racing in the criterium, but with North Attleboro having Kids Day today, I think that had to do with the numbers of the younger kids being down."

One of the biggest surprises came in the girls' 8- to 9-year-old race where third place was taken by Jocelyn Taylor, a 7-year-old from Attleboro. After missing registration for the 6- to 7-year-old race, she decided to move up a division and finished only behind girls two years older than her.

It was a family affair in the kids' criterium, where the Monahan family of North Attleboro walked away with three medals - Colin, 4, and Maddy, 10, each picked up a bronze medal in their respected divisions while their brother Liam, 7, won a silver in the 6- to 7-year-old division.

In addition, twin brothers Jay and Justin Bobola are bringing both a gold and silver medal back to Providence after their respective finishes in the 8- to 9-year-old race.