Consolation was the theme for the winners of Sunday’s finale in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the stage-6 Downtown Hood River Criterium. For men’s winner Heath Blackgrove of Toyota-United, the win was a welcome return to racing after a spring season derailed by a nagging knee injury. The win was also a gift to his Toyota-United team, which had not yet won a stage and was not able to land a rider on the podium overall.

For women’s criterium winner Katherine Carroll, who collected her second stage victory, it was the next best thing to her Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings team winning the overall. Aaron’s placed three riders in the top four, but could not displace race leader Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics), who won the stage-4 time trial in commanding fashion and survived numerous attacks on Saturday’s 90-mile climbing stage.

Overall men’s leader Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) was forced to finish at the front of the field to keep his jersey, five seconds ahead of Navigators Insurance rider Phil Zajicek. Zajicek made several attempts to shell O’Neill, sending teammates Darren Lill, Michael Wolf and Glen Chadwick up the road and attempting to bridge across, but O’Neill’s Health Net squad repeatedly chased them down.

The infamous Columbia River Gorge winds didn’t help Zajicek’s cause; 20-mph winds from the west gave riders a strong tailwind push following the course’s tricky S-turn descent, but dished up a nasty headwind after its one minor climb, offering no rest for the weary.

O'Neill had to defend from the front

Photo: Kurt Jambretz/Action Images

“We set it up really well. We had guys up the road. I was able to head out and go across to them,” said Zajicek. “But Health Net was strong. It took a lot of energy just to gap them off. It’s tough to ride away from six guys on the front. I was able to get through the corners faster than O’Neill, and I was using that to my advantage. We threw it at them. I couldn’t have given it any more.”

With just a few laps remaining, Toyota-United went to the front in hopes of setting up Bobby Lea, arguably the fastest man in a stage-race field devoid of true sprinters.

“The plan was to just be aggressive, make the breaks, cover the moves, and if it looked like nothing was going to stick, set up Bobby,” Blackgrove said. “We had a good lead-out coming into the last lap, and he gapped a few guys off my wheel and let me have it. He used a bit of track tactics. It worked out.”

Lea finished second, with Health Net’s Ryder Hesjedal rounding out the day’s podium. Zajicek finished fourth, with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) fifth and O’Neill sixth. It was a consolation prize for Toyota, which left the team with a 1-2 finish on the final stage and the KOM jersey for Stefano Barberi.

But top honors went to defending champion O’Neill, who was relieved to have the race over after defending a five-second lead over the last two stages.

“If you screw up that S-turn corner you come out three bike lengths off the back,” O’Neill said. “I’ll be honest, I was struggling with that corner. I made a real mess of it a few times. Zajicek saw that, looked back and hit it a few times. I had to try to close the gap down.

“He tried a few early moves to soften me up, and finally I said, ‘If you want to go, bro, go ahead and go. Burn some matches on your own.’ I just let my team bring him back. He could do that all he wants, as long as it’s not on the last five laps. His time was running out, and with two to go Toyota went to the front, and they were going so fast I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.”

In the women’s race, stage-3 winner Carroll joined the winner of stages 1 and 2, Katie Mactier (ValueAct Capital), in a break early on in their 50-minute criterium, and nearly lapped the field. Carroll attacked Mactier with two laps remaining, but when Mactier chased back on, the Aaron’s rider waited until the last half lap to make her move.

“I felt pretty good coming into the last few laps,” Carroll said. “We were working together the whole time. I knew the safe bet was going to be going early because she’s such a good sprinter.

“I tried going with two to go, and she was on me pretty quick, and after that she was done working. I didn’t want to wait until the last corner to start to sprint. So I picked it up on the backstretch and opened a gap through the last few turns and never really felt her on my wheel.

. . . and the narrow victory

Photo: Kurt Jambretz/Action Images

Carroll crossed the line with enough time to clap her hands, perhaps not knowing that a hard-charging Mactier was right on her wheel. Race officials gave both the same time.

“I love criteriums and it was a great course,” Mactier said. “I knew Aaron’s was going to be active and I was wanting to be aggressive. I knew that two riders or a small group could be more efficient than the bunch. I had the perfect breakaway companion. She was playing possum beautifully. I thought she was perhaps suffering more than she was. On the last lap she led it out and I couldn’t quite manage to get over the top of her. But I was coming.”

Goldstein may have lost 1:10 to Carroll, but she retained her 1:24 lead over runner-up Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s). It was the third consecutive Mt. Hood overall win for Goldstein, who lives in nearby Vancouver, Washington. But she said it was by far her toughest win.

“Yesterday was the hardest race I’ve ever raced in my life,” Goldstein said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I was completely outnumbered. It was hot, and the course was hilly. Sometimes you just have to dig deep.”

Mt. Hood Cycling Classic
Downtown Hood River Criterium
Men
1. Heath Blackgrove, Toyota-United, 58:21 (28.1mph)
2. Bobby Lea Toyota-United, same time
3. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, s.t.
4. Phil Zajicek, Navigators Insurance, s.t.
5. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health-Bissell, s.t.
6. Nathan O'Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, s.t.
7. Andrew Fischer, Hagens Berman, at 0:02
8. Aaron Tuckerman, Team Rubicon, s.t.
9. Christopher Jones, Nerac, s.t.
10. Patrick Dunaway, California Giant-Specialized, s.t.

Women
1. Katharine Carroll, Aaron's, 50:04 (24:57 mph)
2. Katie Mactier (Aus), ValueAct Capital, s.t.
3. Jill McLaughlin, Touchstone Climbing, at 1:10
4. Laura Brown (Can), Team Integrale, s.t.
5. Hannah Banks (Aus), ValueAct Capital, s.t.
6. Martina Patella, ValueAct Capital, s.t.
7. Kristin Sanders, Aaron's, s.t.
8. Flavia Oliveira, Team TIBCO, s.t.
9. Courtenay Brown, ValueAct Capital Cycling Team, s.t.
10. Felicia Gomez, Aaron's Pro Cycling Team, s.t.

Final overall
Men
1. Nathan O'Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, 13:45:49
2. Phil Zajicek, Navigators Insurance, at 0:05
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health-Bissell, at 0:32
4. Glen Chadwick (NZl), Navigators Insurance, at 2:18
5. Justin England, Toyota-United Pro Cycling, at 3:00
6. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, at 3:01
7. Chris Lieto, California Giant-Specialized, at 3:08
8. Aaron Tuckerman, Team Rubicon, at 3:38
9. Ben Kneller, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, s.t.
10. Darren Lill (RSA), Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, at 3:39

Women
1. Leah Goldstein (Can), Symmetrics, 14:08:02
2. Felicia Gomez, Aaron's, at 1:24
3. Kristin Sanders, Aaron's, at 3:32
4. Katharine Carroll, Aaron's, at 5:51
5. Beverley Harper, Webcor Builders, at 6:53
6. Julie Beveridge (Can), Bicisport, at 7:15
7. Suz Weldon, Wines of Washington, at 8:41
8. Carmen McNellis, Aaron's Pro Cycling Team, at 10:38
9. Flavia Oliveira, Team TIBCO, at 11:15
10. Marg Fedyna (Can), Bicycle John's Serious Cycling, at 11:24