HOPKINS, Mo. — Javier Aparicio of St. Joseph did a little bit of acting to outwit a stranger. It also worked on his friend, landing him the overall championship Saturday in the 102 Valley Bicycle Race.

Aparicio, who brought along Rusty Parkhurst and Steve Hall to help him with drafting, shed his initial nerves about riding in the rain that began falling just before the start of the race. He and his teammates — including 2007 champion David Neidinger — were in a small group that had dropped the rest of the pack by the time they had abandoned the rolling hills for a section of flats.

“I was kind of nervous, because one guy who races in USA Cycling-sanctioned races from the Boulevard Team was there,” Aparicio said. “He didn’t know me, so I started playing like I was tired. It worked.”

In truth, Aparicio had plenty left.

“I actually psyched out my other teammate (Neidinger),” Aparicio said. “He thought I was going to bonk. I took advantage of that. (Neidinger) was going to try to drop me to win the race. He started taking off, and then I put the gear to it.”

Neidinger and Aparicio, who recently signed with the Epic Cycling team of Kansas City, knew that down the stretch the drafting assistance and teamwork was over.

“It was every man for himself,” Aparicio said. “We talked about it before the race, and we both were aware that whatever happened, happened, and we were all right with it.”

Aparicio finished the 18-mile course in 45 minutes, 16 seconds, just 3 seconds ahead of Neidinger and 4 seconds ahead of Mark Schoonbeck of Kansas City. Rodney Bade of Maryville was fourth, and 2005 champion Tony Jagodzinski of St. Joseph took fifth.

It was just the fifth road race Aparicio has entered and his first win, including a mountain bike career in the early 1990s.

Unlike Aparicio, Ruth Regehr didn’t resort to any trickery in finishing as the top female in the race at 51:23. That time was good enough for 18th overall.

“I have no strategy,” said Regehr, who has won the women’s division for three straight years. “I just do this for fun and enjoy it and do my best. I just ride.”

Aparicio will be among top amateur cyclists in the region competing in St. Joseph on Sept. 6-7, when USA Cycling holds both a team time-trial and a road race as a prelude to the Tour of Missouri, a seven-day, world-class professional event that starts from near St. Joseph’s City Hall on Sept. 8.