KAISERSLAUTERN-DANSENBERG, Germany — If the methods chosen by masters champion James Sharp of Hanau and seniors-open titlist Trent Hornus of Ramstein are anything to go by, the way to win a U.S. Forces Europe road cycling race is to fill the morning with constructive activity.

Sharp, who covered the 28 kilometers of the masters race for riders 40 years and older Saturday afternoon in 41 minutes, 19 seconds, spent his morning winning a 20-kilometer U.S. Forces mountain bike series race 100 kilometers up the road in Dexheim.

Hornus, who just nipped his German cycling club teammate Thomas Essick over the 40 kilometers the 30-39-year seniors rode in 1:06:43, passed his morning working on his new house.

“We had to hurry to get down here,” said Sharp, whose busy day all but wrapped up the 2006 masters crown in this four-stop series. “I tried to get them to start the mountain bike race earlier, but they wouldn’t budge.”

Sharp, who had already clinched the masters mountain bike title, easily outdistanced the masters field despite trying to conserve energy for his third race of the day, a German Class B and C event here later Saturday evening.

“I’ll probably get my butt kicked in that one,” Sharp said. “I don’t expect to finish.”

Getting beaten would be an unusual experience for Sharp, a former Armed Forces team rider. This season, he has won every race at every stop in both series, and by winning Saturday took a 73-45 road cycling points lead over Jeff Clayton of Stuttgart. Clayton was second Saturday.

Hornus picked up eight points on seniors series leader Merle Richard of Ramstein, but still trails Richard by 17 points after competing in his second race of the season. Richard placed third on Saturday.

“I’ve been building a house,” said Hornus, who skipped the season opener in Aviano in April. “It’s not far from here. I spent all morning painting my balcony.”

Hornus barely nipped Essick, who was riding in his first U.S. Forces road race this season. Both riders were clocked in the same time over the street course, which was soaked by heavy rain during their race.

Hornus said he and Essick have been riding and training together since 2000.

“Actually, he was stronger than I was today,” Hornus said of Essick. “I went out front for about five laps. He pulled me through the rest of the way.”

Women’s winner, for the second straight stop, was Ursula Cunneen of Spangdahlem. Erica Haas of Ramstein placed second Saturday; Maria Eoff of Kaiserslautern third. No times were posted for the women, who also rode 28 kilometers.

Saturday’s men’s open winner was Shawn Deal of Vilseck, who finished ninth overall in the seniors-open race. Even so, Deal picked up 12 points on open series leader Christopher Fritzsche of Aviano, who did not race Saturday. Fritzsche leads Deal 20-19 going into the final stop in the series, Sept. 9-10 in Sembach.

U.S. Forces Europe road cycling series

Order of finish Saturday in the Ramstein Criterium, third of four stops in the 2006 U.S. Forces Europe road cycling championship series. Men’s open and seniors rode 42 kilometers; men’s masters and women, 28. Most individual times are unavailable:

Men’s open: 1, Shawn Deal (Vilseck), time unavailable; 2, Michael Davidson (Vilseck); 3, Timothy Brown (Ramstein).

Series leaders: 1, Christopher Fritzsche (Aviano), 20 points; 2, Deal, 19; 3, Michael Slotten (Spangdahlem) 18; 4, Benjamin Martinelli (Heidelberg), 13; 5, Nikolas Kinder (Ramstein), 10; 6, Davidson and Bradley Von Haugg (Aviano), 7 each; 8, Jon Deason (Mannheim), 6; 9, David Wetherington (Spangdahlem), 5; 10, Brown, Jeffrey Puckett (Spangdahlem) and Eric Applen (Aviano), 4 each.

Men’s seniors (30-39 years): 1, Trent Hornus (Ramstein), 1 hour, 6 minutes, 43 seconds; 2, Thomas Essick (Wiesbaden) same time; 3, Merle Richard (Ramstein); 4, Mark McClay (Spangdahlem); 5, David Schreffler (Ramstein); 6, Anthony Givogue (Mannheim); 7, Leslie Handy (Ramstein); 8, Scott Peterson (Ramstein); 9, Howard Pepper (Hanau); 10, Brian Ellison (Mannheim).

Series leaders: 1, Richard, 46 points; 2, Schreffler, 33; 3, Hornus, Givogue and Peter Callamari (Sembach), 29 each; 6, Handy, Dennis Wingler (Spangdahlem) and Seth Lininger (Spangdahlem), 19 each; 9, Walter Johnson (Heidelberg), 18; 10, David Hammerschmidt (Ramstein), 17.

Men’s masters (40 years and older): 1, James Sharp (Hanau), 41:19; 2, Jeff Clayton (Stuttgart); 3, Martin Heinz (Spangdahlem); 4, Richard Bird (Ramstein); 5, Phil Tinsley (Heidelberg); 6, Larry Kinder (Ramstein); 7, John Guardia (Pirmasens); 8, Daniel Paine (Kaiserslautern); 9, Jinjong Chung (Vilseck); 10, Reynaldo Gonzalez (Kaiserslautern); 11, Tracy Boyd (Hohenfels); 12, Jack Nevin (Spangdahlem); 13, Robert Eoff (Kaiserslautern); 14, Bill Whitman (Darmstadt); 15, Rafael Rodriguez (Vilseck); 16, David Quinn (Sembach); 17, Shelley Joseph (Mannheim).

Series leaders: 1, Sharp, 73 points; 2, Clayton, 45; 3, Tinsley, 34; 4, Heinz and Kinder, 32 each; 6, Chung, 26; 7, Gonzalez, 23; 8, Robert Dettmer (Heidelberg), 21; 9, Paine, 19; 10, Nevin, Rodriguez and Brian Simpson (Heidelberg), 17 each.

Women: 1, Ursula Cunneen (Spangdahlem); 2, Erica Haas (Ramstein); 3, Maria Eoff (Kaiserslautern).

Series leaders (points totals unavailable): 1, Cunneen; 2, Lori Nix (Schwetzingen); 3, Keri Cullen (Mildenhall); 4, Eoff, Haas and JoDeen Brown (Garmisch); 7, Michelle Rosignol (Sembach); 8, Sunnie Brownell (Kaiserslautern); 9, Jennifer McElroy (Aviano).

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