Danish Cyclist Gillig Wins 75-Mile Willow Roads Race

There’s a hill on the 6.3-mile loop of the Willows Road Race course here that even the most experienced bicycle racers speak of with much respect and a pinch of fear.

The hill, a one-mile gradual rise topped by a steep quarter-mile climb, gives spectators a feel for the strategy and the pain that the 75.6-mile race can induce as riders power their bikes to the top.

Saturday, Denmark’s Peter Gillig conquered the hill and the field of 158 racers as he won the 12-lap Willows Road Race in the Cleveland National Forest, 30 miles east of San Diego. Gillig finished nearly a minute ahead of the pack.

“It’s a killer, especially when you have to go over it 12 times,” Gillig, 23, said of the hill. “In the beginning of the race, the hill is no problem, you can stay with the pack on the way down, but you can’t do that all day.”

Richard McClune inched out David McLaughlin for second place in the race which lasted a little more than three hours and 15 minutes. McLaughlin was securely in second place until the final 100 yards when he suffered arm cramps, allowing McClune to pull ahead.

Host of the event is the San Diego Bicycle Club.

In the main women’s race, a 37.8-mile course, Jill Kovel of Long Beach finished first with Heather McNair second and Amanda Mitchell-Ernies third.

In the men’s event, Cosme Aguirre, Mexico’s only professional racer, quickly pedaled in front and had about a 100-yard advantage over the pack for the first four laps.

Aguirre ended up winning the King of the Mountain honor, which is given to the racer who, throughout the race, places best overall at a designated point at the top of the hill.

Aguirre was passed by Gillig at the top of the hill on the fifth lap, after Gillig had pulled away from the pack and made a surge for the lead about a mile from the hill.

“I pulled away with all I could,” Gillig said. “I wasn’t going to let (Aguirre) win the hill again.”

Said Aguirre: “I knew it was going to happen--blowing out at the end--but I thought it was worth it. For this race, it’s good for getting an early lead because everybody wants to stay slow at the start, and I took advantage of that.”

The 158-rider field was reduced to fewer than 30 by the end of the event. Many used the race as a warm-up for the upcoming cycling season. Les Barczewski, a U.S. Olympic sprint team member, rode for the first three laps before dropping out.

“I have no visions of winning the race,” Barczewski said beforehand. “I need some endurance training, and this will probably be the longest race I’ll ride all year.”

Today, many of the same riders, including Gillig, will compete in the eighth annual UC San Diego Criterium race. The 45.5-mile event will be run on a 1.3-mile closed course at UCSD’s Warren College Campus, with the main race scheduled for 1 p.m. Admission is free.