Ernie Lechuga of Los Angeles placed 14th at the 2000 Elite Men’s National Road Race Championship here Sunday with a time of 4:27:01, two seconds behind winner Steve Cate of Norman, Okla.

But Lechuga, 24, is fighting a bigger battle, and doing just as well.

He was diagnosed with testicular cancer two years ago.

&uot;I was racing in an amateur race at the Tour de France when I crashed in the second stage and tore my ACL,&uot; Lechuga said. &uot;My knee was real swollen. When the doctor checked it he touched my tendon and it was real tender. He advised me to have an ultra sound.&uot;

Lechuga, 24, was diagnosed with cancer at the University of Southern California Medical Center.

&uot;They told me I had a lymph node in my testicle,&uot;&160;Lechuga said. &uot;They removed a tumor out of my stomach. Three days later I underwent surgery and had four or five months of chemotherapy.&uot;

Before his surgery, Lechuga received a telephone call from 1999 Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to capture the prominent event.

&uot;He told me everything would be fine,&uot; Lechuga said. &uot;He told me what to expect and everything I would be going through.&uot;

Armstrong, a two time Olympian, was forced off his bike in excruciating pain in October of 1996. Tests revealed advanced testicular cancer had spread to his lungs and his brain.

Armstrong would be operated on three times in the ensuing weeks. Chances for his recovery were 50/50, but Armstrong began the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available and it began to work. He began training only five months after his diagnosis, uncertain of his future in the sport.

&uot;I was actually going through chemotherapy while he was winning the Tour de France,&uot; Lechuga said. &uot;He was such an inspiration.&uot;

Armstrong won the National Elite Men’s Road Race Championshipin 1991.

Lechuga, who competes for the Mercury Cylcing Team, is recovering well. The fact he is back racing is something he’ll be forever grateful for.

&uot;I didn’t even tell John Warden, who is our team director,&uot; Lechuga said. &uot;I was scared if he found out he would tell me I’m not on the team anymore. But he found out the day after my surgery.&uot;

Warden and members of the Los Angeles-based Mercury Cycling Team were frequent visitors to Lechuga in the hospital.

&uot;They supported me 100 percent,&uot; he said.

Lechuga, who has placed high in such events as the Tour of Canada, Tour of Langkawi (Malaysia) was actually the top finisher for the Mercury team here Sunday.

Lechuga won the Junior National Championship (13-14) in 1990.

But winning is no longer the top priority in Lechuga’s life.

&uot;I’d love to go pro and win a race for the Mercury team,&uot; he said. &uot;But my longtime goal is to stay healthy.&uot;

Sunday’s race concluded a week of cycling competition in the state of Mississippi. Last Thursday, Mari Holden (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Adham Sbeih (Granite Bay, Calif.) captured the national individual time trial championships. Meanwhile, Nicole Freedman (Stanford, Calif.) and Antonio Cruz (Long Beach, Calif.) earned berths on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team with victories in the road race at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Road Cycling in Jackson.

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached by calling 446-5172 ext. 232 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.

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