With a little help from his father and a support vehicle, not even a flat tire could deter Nolan Froese from winning Sunday’s USA Cycling St. Joseph Road Race.

Froese, an 18-year-old from Columbia, Mo., finished the 42.86-mile course in 1 hour, 47 minutes, 1 second, taking a 17-second victory over Mark Smelzer of Manhattan, Kan.

But this victory didn’t come easily.

When he got the flat, the support vehicle driven by Gary Schermerhorn was along within a few seconds with a new front wheel. As the other racers widened the gap, Froese methodically swapped out the wheel.

“I was surprised at how casually he did it,” said Schermerhorn, one of dozens of volunteers for the inaugural race. “He knew what he was doing.”

Froese’s father, Ethan, lagged back to help him catch back up as they drafted off one another.

“I was 600 meters off the back, and if you’re in a car or watching, it doesn’t look that hard,” Froese said. “But on a bike, man, it’s hard as hell. I was just hurting so bad.”

By the time the racers were in the vicinity of Rushville, a little more than halfway through the race, the Froeses had caught up with the peloton.

“We just kept counterattacking, and finally I got off (the front) with one other person (Smelzer). I just ended up gaining a lot of time on the uphill.”

Schermerhorn watched it all unfold from his support vehicle.

“Once they got into town, he took off,” Schermerhorn said. “They were together when they crossed Parker Road, but when they pulled around on Alabama and went up that hill he just kept building a lead.”

Ethan Froese took third, finishing the moderately hilly course in 1:47:44.

The elder Froese said he’s impressed with how quickly his son — a member of the U.S. national cycling team — has progressed as a racer.

“It took me 20 years to get to where he’s at after three years,” Ethan Froese said. “He’s got quite an engine, he’s smart and he’s got way more experience than a lot of guys do, since he’s been over in Europe racing off and on the last two years.”

While Nathan Froese dominated Category 1/2, Rob Bell of Oklahoma City won Category 3 in 1:50.39. Curt Shelman of Smithville, Mo., was the top area rider, placing third in that category in 1:50:46, while Matt Baugher was the top St. Joseph finisher, taking 12th in Category 3 with a time of 1:52:02.

In Category 4, Jeffrey Schroeder of Lawrence, Kan., was clocked in 1:51:23, taking a two-second victory over Luke Lininger of Greenwood, Mo., and in Category 5, Charles Bartel of Overland Park, Kan., edged out St. Joseph’s Javier Aparicio, with both timed in 1:59:08.

On the women’s side, Jennifer Rhoades of Kansas City won Category 1/2, finishing the course in 2:06:34, but her time was behind two of her friends in Category 3 — Teri Stewart of Overland Park and Shari Wolwood of Lee’s Summit, Mo. — as she was using the event simply as a tune-up for today’s women’s criterium in Kansas City. That elite event will begin at 1:30 p.m. — about a half hour after the start of the Tour of Missouri men’s elite event in St. Joseph.

“These kind girls let me suck their wheel all day so I could relax for (today),” Rhoades said, adding that she just wants to be able to stay close to hometown favorite Kelly Benjamin and Tina Pic, the favorites to win the criterium.

“It’s an honor to be with those ladies; that’s a high-caliber group of women.”

Sports reporter Rick Dunaway can be reached at rickd@npgco.com