That was the path Greenethorpe's Will Hodges had to take in order to win the elite men's NSW Road Race Championships at Gunning on Sunday.

Hodges made it back-to-back state crowns after 2019's under 23s road race victory.

Finding himself in an eight man breakaway during Sunday's 141 kilometre event - featuring three Team Bridgelane and three Team Nero members - wasn't a favourable situation for Hodges.

But despite being outnumbered heavily by a group of riders working for each other, he was able to stay on top of every moment of pressure they tried to put on him.

Only four riders remained in contention for the final sprint.

Ben Hill lost the wheel of the leading trio in the run to the line and left Hodges to out sprint Jay Vine (Canberra Cycling Club) and Sam Hill (Hunter District Cycling Club) for the top prize.

"It's pretty amazing. It was such a hard race and there were some big teams there with big numbers. I was pretty sure that it would play out against me so to come away with a win was pretty cool against a field like that," he said.

"There were three riders in the breakaway from Team Bridgelane, who are probably the biggest domestic team in Australia, and there were three guys from Team Nero, who are another big team, and then just myself representing my team.

"That meant I had to cover every move through the whole day because they were working for each other. I was covering moves all day and that put me on the back foot. Every third time it was their turn to have a go but for me it was every time.

"There were three of us coming over that last climb together and we were looking each other over the last few kilometres and no-one wanted to go early. There was a lot of cat and mouse going on."

Hodges said the team tactics that could be used against him was something always at the forefront of his mind.

"It was so unexpected but it made it more enjoyable to do it with the odds stacked against me," he said.

"I wasn't sure how that group of eight would turn out by the end of the race but it was a hard day out there for everyone so it go cut down.

"I did expect it to be a small group but it was a case of whether I would be able to follow every move in order to be there. That was the big question I was always asking myself."

Hodges said this year's victory felt more special than his under 23s triumph last season, where he had several teammates on hand to help set him up for the sprint.

Cowra's Jeremy Ryan claimed fourth place in the division one event.