Adam Mills compares cycling to a combination of chess and poker.

“You combine position and tactics,” Mills, Lawrence graduate student, said. “You watch everybody, and the more you see, the better the odds are that you see a point where you can win the race.”

And this spring the odds are that Lawrence residents will discover more about Mills’ fascination with cycling.

Mills and other members of the KU Cycling Club will help host the National Collegiate Cycling Association Road National Championships May 13 to 15 in Lawrence.

This is the first time the championship will be held in Lawrence. The city won the bid, largely because of its central location in the country, to host the event from 2005 through 2008.

The three-day competition consists of three different races: a 75-mile road race, a 1-mile loop course called a criterium and a team time trial race.

The KU Cycling Club, the Lawrence Sports Corporation and KLM Marketing, of Kansas City, Mo., submitted the bid and are planning the competition. The planning will be finalized over the next two weeks. Last week, the Lawrence City Commission approved a request to close roads near downtown Lawrence for the criterium race.

Chris Hess, coach of the KU Cycling Club, said the criterium would be the most spectator-friendly course.

“It’s a lot of riders in a small space,” he said. “Some of the best riders may not finish the race because there will be crashes. It’s similar to watching a football game.”

Universities from across the country will compete in the championship. About 300 to 400 athletes will participate, said Andy Phelps, Shawnee senior and president of the KU Cycling Club.

Only eight of the 20 members from the KU Cycling Club will be allowed to participate in the championship. Although the club attended national championships for the last three years, this will be the first championship race for several members.

Brian Jensen, Bornholm, Denmark, sophomore, did not travel with the club to nationals last year because it was too far away and he could not afford the trip. He said the location of the competition was the only reason he could participate this year.

With the championship on his home turf, Jensen can also familiarize himself with the courses.

“Other people may think the road race will be flat because it’s in Kansas, but it’s really hilly,” Jensen said. “Knowing that helps you know where to make moves.”

Lawrence won the bid for the competition in December after a race promoter in Connecticut backed out of hosting the event. Traditionally the competition moves to a different city in a different part of the country each year. But moving and reorganizing every year is difficult, so USA Cycling, the national governing organization for cycling, decided to keep it in one city for several years, Phelps said. Phelps, who also serves on the governing board for collegiate cycling, said this was the first time that USA Cycling has approved a bid for more than two years in a single location.

“Our goal is to start out with a bang,” Phelps said. “We want people to know that this is a great place for cycling and a national championship.”

The competition event committee has finalized approval for all three race courses. The committee will officially announce these courses at a press conference on Tuesday, March 15, at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike shop, 802 Massachusetts St.