Be sure to look both ways before crossing Vermont Street between 7th and 9th streets Friday night. You don’t want to wander into a full-blown bike sprint.

Truthfully, the barricades, spectators, 2016 Tour of Lawrence signage and, you know, bike riders careening down the road should keep downtown pedestrians perfectly safe as professional and amateur cyclists compete on the first night of the annual summer event.

The eighth installment of the Tour of Lawrence begins with 200-meter street sprints tonight at 6:30, but that’s just the beginning.

Much longer, more grueling Pro Am cycling races await the more than 750 anticipated entrants this weekend. Twelve different races, with competitors in the men’s and women’s divisions ranging in ages from 15 to 60-plus, will take over much of Haskell Indian Nations University’s campus Saturday, between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. The HINU Campus Criterium races will transport cyclists from the starting line on Indian Avenue, up toward 23rd Street, south along the Burroughs Creek/Haskell Rail Trail, northward on Perimeter Road and back again.

The three days of competition culminate Sunday, back downtown, with 13 start times between 8 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. The Downtown Criterium course begins and ends at 9th and Massachusetts, traversing between 7th and 10th streets, along portions of New Hampshire and Vermont, as well.

For more information, visit touroflawrence.com.