Wilson and Shaw clinch overall titles at Mount Hood

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Stage 1 winner Coulton Hartrich (Athletix Cycling/Globalbike) grabbed his second win of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Sunday as Nate Wilson joined Hartrich in a two-man breakaway that propelled the 22-year-old California Giant Berry/Specialized rider to the overall win.

In the women's race, ExergyTWENTY12's Rhae Shaw took her third stage win in four tries to seal her overall victory, while mountain bike pro Kelli Emmett (Giant) climbed her way from third overall into the second spot, knocking Shaw's teammate Alison Tetrick into third.

The fourth and final stage of the stage race lived up to its “queen stage” billing by shaking up the overall after challenging the men with 146 km and more than 3,048 feet of climbing through the Mt. Hood National Forest. The women covered 116 km and more than 2,348 meters of climbing for their final stage.

Cal Giant Berry Farms used its superior numbers and multiple threats for the overall to put English and his lone teammate, Roman Kilun, on the defensive all day long, eventually isolating English and launching Wilson, who started the day second overall, into the winning move.

Wilson started the day just 13 seconds down on English, and the two escapees topped the final summit with a 50-second gap over a small chase group led by the race leader. The pair added another 10 seconds to the gap on the climb up to the finish at the Cooper Spur Ski Area, where Wilson came in 47 seconds ahead of English to snatch the overall win.

Wilson's teammate, Stephen Leece, who started the stage 41 seconds down, also jumped ahead of English on the climb to Cooper Spur, coming in exactly 41 seconds ahead of the 2011 overall winner and grabbing the four-second time bonus for third on the stage. It was enough to knock English down to third overall, while Hartich's winning ride bumped him from 8th overall to fourth.

Shaw and Emmett formed their breakaway in the women's race by getting away from a severely fractured field on the final summit of the day, after which Emmett used her descending skills to distance herself from the race leader in attempt for a solo win. But Shaw reeled Emmett back on the ascent to Cooper Spur and then refused to work in hopes that Tetrick, who was behind chasing furiously, could save her second spot overall.

Emmett towed Shaw the last 15 km and then watched as the race leader left her behind 500 meters from the finish to solo in for the victory. Emmett's frustration was eased a bit when Tetrick came in more than 10 minutes behind, lifting the Giant rider into second overall. Tetrick held on for third overall, however, and stage 3 winner Jennifer Lehmann (Trek/Red Truck) grabbed fourth overall.

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