MASTERS NATIONAL CYCLING : Stetina Gets Too Far Up to Blow It

Crossing the finish line alone, arms raised, Wayne Stetina of Mission Viejo made winning the men’s 35-39 road race of the Masters National Cycling Championships Saturday at Balboa Park look so easy.

But it has been three years since Stetina, an eight-time national champion and two-time Olympian, has won a gold medal. That’s too long, he says.

So Stetina wasn’t going to take any chances after a close second place last year. He broke away from the pack with five laps to go and managed to hang on to at least a 25-second lead until the final sprint. It wasn’t until then that second-place Rory O’Reilly of Santa Barbara got to within 50 meters.

Stetina won the 79-kilometer race in 1:59:23.

“I wanted to get off by myself and go for a solo win,” Stetina said. “With two laps to go, I didn’t know if I would live or die. I could see they were giving up, so I relaxed before the final hill. Once I got over the hill, I knew I was going to get it. Then I just coasted in. Rory did surprise me with his finish.”

O’Reilly, whose strength is in sprinting, said that he didn’t know “how fit” he’d be to compete in a road race because he has been concentrating on track racing.

“Wayne made the right move by trying the break free,” he said. “If he would have waited too long he wouldn’t have gotten that much of a gap,” O’Reilly said. “I was hoping to make up ground on the sprints but I had too much to make up.”

In the women’s 35-39 52-kilometer race, Betsy King of Gainesville, Fla., did the same as Stetina and powered ahead of the field to win in 1:34:38. King, who has raced in the women’s Tour de France five times and plans on doing it again this year, said her strength is on hills, and there she widened the gap.

King broke away and led for three laps before Beth Kinsella of St. Louis caught her with six of 10 laps to go. King regained her lead, and she and Kinsella had a considerable edge over the field as they crossed the finish line. Karen Hornbostel of Louisville was third.

“I wanted to attack at the start to see what would happen,” King said. “Three laps from the end, I could tell the field was tiring. When Beth came up, I was very happy to have someone next to on the hill to draft the wind.”

And Kinsella’s strategy was to stay with King and Hornbostel for pacing.

“I knew Betsy was strong, but I thought it was a little early when she broke away,” Kinsella said. “I figured we’d catch her, but it was hard to organize everybody. I was surprised when we got such a big gap on them (the field).”

Tisha Whitney, who rides for the San Diego Cyclo-Vets and resides in Irvine, won her third national title of the week in the 40-44 race, finishing the 48 kilometers in 1:32:26. Teammate Angela Davis placed fifth.

The championships conclude today with road races beginning at 7 a.m.