The defending champion dropped out with 26 miles to go, and his likely successor was done in by his reputation before he could give it any more luster.  That's the way it went yesterday for Fred Rodriguez and George Hincapie, lauded past champions, virtual co-favorites and eventual disappointments in the 18th First Union U.S. Pro cycling championships.

And that is why Mark Walters and Chann McRae, a pair of barely known understudies, evolved into leading men who stole the show in the nation's longest one-day bicycle race
.

Walters, a 26-year-old Canadian who rides for the Navigators, and whose best previous finish was "somewhere between 30th and 40, I think," won the 156-mile race by a two-foot margin over McRae, 30, of the U.S. Postal Service.

McRae happily settled for the star-spangled jersey that goes to the U.S. road-racing champion.

Walters came up strong at the finish to take the biggest race of his career in 5 hours, 54 minutes, 24 seconds, the second-fastest time in the history of the event. He covered the course at an average speed of 26.41 m.p.h.

Asked where he would rank the victory on his cycling resume, Walters immediately replied, "It's No. 1!"

Before yesterday's race, which he almost passed up because of an arm injury suffered earlier this season, McRae's biggest claim to cycling fame was his long-running friendship with Lance Armstrong.

McRae and the three-time Tour de France champion have known each since they were fifth graders in Austin, Texas.

"Lance is a superstar; I'm a domestique," McRae said in a frank assessment of their respective status in cycling. "He's made millions of dollars. I've made thousands of dollars. But if it wasn't for him, I would not be sitting here now."

Nor would McRae be on the bubble, as he is now, for a slot in the U.S. Postal Service lineup for the Tour de France next month.

All of that began to happen when a breakaway group of 13 riders made their 10th and final ascent of the Manayunk Wall, that torturous five-block hill whose 17 percent grade takes a toll on lungs and calf muscles.

Michael Barry of the U.S. Postal Service pushed the pace hardest in front, with help from McRae. Both apparently were planning to set up Hincapie for the late sprint that would win it all.

But on the final three-mile finishing loop, after Barry had maintained his hard pace for half its distance, he gave way to McRae, still figuring he would lead Hincapie to victory.

"I thought George was going to be on my wheel," McRae said, "but when I started the descent [from Lemon Hill], I was alone and thought, 'Now what do I do?' "

Hincapie probably was asking himself the same question. Had he gone for the lead, he would have taken a half-dozen tough rivals with him, hardly ahelp to his team's cause.

"We were setting up for me, but it was incredibly negative," said Hincapie, who finished fifth. "Everyone in the breakaway was just looking at me... . I couldn't run down my teammate."

"George was a marked man," McRae said. "He was such a heavy favorite."

So the race boiled down to a sprint that involved the understudies and Danny Pate, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., the prime Alliance youngster who won the under-23 world time-trial title a year ago.

Over the last 200 meters, Walters had more than McRae could overcome.

But the U.S. champion was hardly crushed.

"This jersey is just a symbol of what every professional racer in America dreams of," McRae said. "This a a dream come true."

Notes. Marty Nothstein of Trexlertown, Pa., the track cyclist who won a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics, took a successful step forward in his conversion to road racing, even though he dropped out after 104 miles.

Nothstein led the pack through the first prime - a race within the race held every two laps - and picked up $1,500 for doing so. He also saved Walters a lot of work in the early going, which gave his Navigators teammate more energy than his rivals when they hit the stretch.

"My job was to work with the heavy hitters," Nothstein said. "Everyone did their job today. It was like a game plan, and it worked perfectly. I'm very confident that if I didn't have to work a lot, I could have finished."

The day was not so fortunate for Ryan Eiler, a junior cyclist from Holland, Bucks County. He crashed with a sickening thud at the start/finish line and suffered a broken collarbone.

First Union USPRO Championship Length: 156 miles. Avg. speed: 26.41 mph 1. Mark Walters, Navigators, 5:54.24 2. Chann McRae, U.S. Postal Service 3. Danny Pate, Prime Alliance 4. 4. Henk Vogels, Mercury 5. George Hincapie, U.S. Postal Service 6. Mark McCormack, Saturn 7. Mariano Friedick, Jelly Belly 8. Zbigniew Piatek, MROZ 9. Damon Kluck, Saturn 10. Thomas Grnqvist, Amore & Vita Beretta 11. Kirk O'Bee, Navigators 12. Michael Barry, U.S. Postal Service, 5:54.37 13. Chris Wherry, Mercury, 5:54.44 14. Sebastien Mattozza, Colnago-Landbouwkredit, 5:55.50 15. David McKenzie, 5:55.55 First Union Liberty Classic Length: 57.60 miles. Avg. speed: 23.49 mph 1. Petra Rossner, Saturn, 2:27.09 2. Laura Van Gilder, Trek Plus 3. Dede Barry Demet, Talgoa America 5. Kim Anderson, Team T Mobile 5. Valen Polkhanova, Itera 6. Anna Millward, Saturn, 2:27.11 7. Judith Arndt, Saturn, 2:27.31 8. Tina Mayolo-Pic, 2:28.27 9. Rebecca Conzelman, Freddie Fu Cycling 10. Nicole Freeman, Terry Precision Cycling Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.