Minneapolis – With HTC-Highroad committed to racing in Europe, the final race of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series offers opportunities to move up in the standings to several riders when the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic begins Tuesday. HTC-Highroad leads the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series individual (Amber Neben) and sprint (Chloe Hosking) categories and sits atop the team standings.

Erinne Willock (Team TIBCO/To The Top) is one of those riders looking to improve in the standings. Sitting second in the individual classification, she finished third at the Cascade Cycling Classic a year ago.

“It’s a good race for me because I like the hills and I can do a good time trial,” Willock said. “But it’s hard, too, because it’s at a little bit of altitude and it’s hot and there are a lot of hard stages. But I am looking forward to it.”

There is a three-way tie for second in the Series sprint competition. Two of those riders will be at Cascade: Heather Logan-Sprenger and Leah Kirchmann, teammates on Colavita Forno D’Asolo. With HTC-Highroad in Europe, one of these riders is likely to take the sprinter’s crown.

In the best young rider category, Denise Ramsden (Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda) is also not on the start list for Cascade, opening the door for Kasey Clark (Primal-Map My Ride), who is coming off a week at the USA Cycling National Talent I.D. Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“I’m hugely hoping to improve my performance at Cascade this year,” Clark said. “My time at the Olympic Training Center was amazing. I’m hoping I can rest up from the travel and be ready.”

With 31 previous editions, the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore., is the longest consecutively run elite stage race in the country. The six-day National Racing Calendar event features a prologue, two road races, an individual time trial, a twilight criterium and a circuit race.

The Women’s Prestige Cycling Series is the only national bicycle racing series exclusively showcasing the country’s top female cycling talent.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Amber Neben, HTC-Highroad, 440.
2. Erinne Willock, Team TIBCO/To The Top, 330.
3. Evelyn Stevens, HTC-Highroad, 242.
4. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 231.
5. Kristin Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, 220.

SPRINT CLASSIFICATION
1. Chloe Hosking, HTC-Highroad, 253.
2. Heather Logan-Sprenger, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 220.
3. Christina Smith, Rouse Bicycles, 220.
4. Leah Kirchmann, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 220.
5. Amanda Miller, HTC-Highroad, 187.

BEST YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION
1. Denise Ramsden, Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda, 440.
2. Kasey Clark, Primal-Map My Ride, 330.
3. Rachel Warner, Missing Link Coaching Systems/Specialized, 264.
4. Ally Stacher, HTC-Highroad, 256.
5. Lindsay Myers, Danbury Audi, 220.

BEST TEAM CLASSIFICATION
1. HTC-Highroad, 1,197.
2. Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 886.
3. Team TIBCO/To The Top, 637.
4. Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, 387.
5. Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda, 369.

About the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series
The only national-level competition produced by women, for women, features four races in its eighth year. Its origin can be traced back to a discussion at the 2003 Women’s Cycling Summit Conference, held at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Since then, more than 30 teams have participated in some of the United States’ top races from coast to coast. The four events on the 2011 schedule are: Redlands Bicycle Classic in California (March 31-April 3), SRAM Tour of the Gila (April 27-May 1), Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota (June 15-19) and the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic (July 19-24) in Oregon.