A month has passed since Chris Wherry raced away from Chris Horner and Danny Pate to claim the USPRO Cycling Championship in Philadelphia.

Wherry’s first race since that huge win will start today at the Cascade Cycling Classic. While Wherry has been training and preparing this last month, he also took some time to enjoy the victory in Philadelphia.

”It was a well-deserved break,” Wherry said in a phone interview last week. ”It was kind of nice because I had some partying to do after the USPRO Championship. I had a pretty rough party schedule for about 10 days.”

But Wherry, who lives in Durango, Colo., and races for Health Net-Maxxis, said he has the partying out of his system now and is focused on the Cascade Classic.

In the midst of probably the best season in his career, Wherry, 31, is one of the clear favorites to win this year’s CCC.

Before his victory in Philadelphia, he won the overall at the Redlands (Calif.) Classic in March. And Wherry – who won the Cascade Classic in 2002 and took third in 2003 – is familiar with Central Oregon.

”I definitely think I’m on track,” Wherry said. ”I feel pretty strong when I’m out riding. The only thing that may hinder me is a lack of racing. But that will come back pretty quick.

”I’ve always loved the Cascade race. I really love the terrain. It’s pretty similar to Boulder, where I grew up. It’s almost like racing at home.”

Wherry also made himself at home last month in Philadelphia, where he outsmarted both Horner and Pate in the final breakaway. He lost Horner, who finished third, with less than three miles to ride and held the gap. Pate was second.

Horner, who lives in Bend, is a former teammate of Wherry’s on the Mercury team. Horner now races for Saunier Duval-Prodir and is currently competing in his first Tour de France. He normally would be racing in the Cascade Classic this time of year.

”There’s no doubt I had a good day at the right time because Chris (Horner) has got some amazing form right now,” Wherry said. ”I’m really happy for him. I hope he has a good Tour. I’m looking forward to watching it, but I’m pretty psyched to have snuck one over on him.”

Wherry is a key member of a stacked Health Net-Maxxis team that has won nearly every big race in which it has competed this season.

Scott Moninger, Wherry’s teammate, has won the Cascade Cycling Classic four times, and fellow Health Net-Maxxis rider Doug Ollerenshaw of Portland won the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, Calif., in April.

”The entire team has just been unstoppable,” Wherry said. ”We’ve pretty much won all the races up to this point. Scott (Moninger) has always ridden well at the Classic. You can never count Scott out in a stage race. And I know Doug (Ollerenshaw) loves Bend. I look to Doug to have a pretty good race, too.”

Wherry considers climbing his strongest asset as a cyclist, and without the McKenzie Pass stage this year – the mountainous leg was taken out for safety reasons – climbing may be less of a factor in the Cascade Classic. But Wherry doesn’t seem worried.

”There’s a good opportunity for some selection,” Wherry said. ”There’s definitely enough climbing to break it up. The one thing that will mean more is the time trial.”