Salt Lake City's Marty Jemison of the U.S. national team won the men's road race at the national cycling championships, completing the 96-mile course just 31 seconds ahead of Fred Rodriguez.
Jemison, who was timed in 4 hours, 25 minutes, 30 seconds Wednesday, outlasted a field of 174 cyclists which included 1992 national champion Chann McRae and 1992 Olympic trials road race champion Timm Peddie.Jemison remained behind the front-runners until the final 12-mile lap, when he, Rodriguez and Jeff Evanshine broke out of a pack of 20 riders and caught up with Peddie with about six miles to go.
They remained together for about three miles, then began to separate during a 400-foot vertical climb along the toughest hill on the course at Hocking Hills State Park.
"When I made it to the top of that last hill with over 200 meters on those other guys, I knew I had the race won," Jemison said of his lead. "I knew that I could hold my ground on the flats.
"So once I crossed that hill, I felt great. It was just a matter of putting it into big gear and bringing it own in."