Kenny Bellau hopes experience can outdo physical shape at the United States Cycling Federation Elite National Road Race Championship here Sunday.

&uot;I’m feeling pretty good,&uot; Bellau said. &uot;I&160;wish I was in a little better shape. I’m counting on experience versus young enthusiasm.&uot;

Bellau hopes familiarity with the race course will also be beneficial.

Bellau, 31, races for the local Herring Gas Riding Team. He has particpated in several Natchez Bicycle Classics.

&uot;I’m quite familiar with Silver Street and other hills in the countryside,&uot; Bellau said. &uot;I haven’t been training long distances, but I’m hoping experience will carry me through.&uot;

Sunday’s race will start at 1 p.m. on Main Street and head out to Kingston for a 17-mile circuit.

Cyclists will ride out Liberty Road and head out to Kingston on Springfield Road for four laps.

Cyclists will then do six laps downtown, including riding up and down Natchez-Under-the-Hill over a 4.5-mile circuit.

The total distance for the race is appoximately 120 miles.

&uot;One of my main goals is to not do anything until I get to that first hill on Silver Street,&uot; Bellau said.

Bellau’s best finish in Nationals was third in 1996 in Hocking Hills, Ohio.

Bellau placed eighth in a Category 2 Nationals event.

&uot;That’s a little different,&uot; he said. &uot;Racing at the national championship is not your everyday backyard race.&uot;

Bellau competed in the Olympic Trials in 1996.

&uot;That was extremely competitive,&uot; he said. &uot;And it was very political. The Olympic Cycling team was more or less picked and we were just going through the motions.&uot;

Bellau said he decided not to race in the Olympic Trials in Jackson Saturday so he can concentrate on the race here.

&uot;I was invited, but they are going to be racing for one spot and there will be more than 100 pros there with an intense amount of support,&uot; he said. &uot;I wouldn’t want to sacrifice my chances for the next day. There may be a couple of riders doing both, but anyone is thinking they can win both.&uot;

Also competing from the Herring Gas team will be Jack Ditt of Shreveport, La., and Chris Alexander of New Orleans and Trent Rives of Baton Roue, La.

&uot;My strategy will depend on how the rest of the team is doing,&uot; Bellau said. &uot;It may change the morning of the race, it just depends on how everything is going.&uot;

Bellau said his goal is to finish among the top 10 riders.

&uot;I would be really thrilled with that,&uot; Bellau said.

Bellau, who is a real estate agent for Latter and Blum in New Orleans, said he is excited about the race being in Natchez.

&uot;That’s very convenient,&uot; he said. &uot;I haven’t gone in three years because it’s been more or less inaccessibe. It’s been more than a car drive away and I just work too much these days.&uot;

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