Amber Neben

Amber Leone Neben (born February 18, 1975)[2] is an American racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team Cogeas–Mettler–Look.[6] Neben won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and 2016 as well as the U.S. national road race championship in 2003[7] and 2017.

Amber Neben
Personal information
Full nameAmber Leone Neben
Born (1975-02-18) February 18, 1975
Irvine, California, United States
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight48 kg (106 lb) (2008)[1]
Team information
Current teamCogeas–Mettler–Look
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder[2]
Amateur teams
2001Autotrader.com
2010Webcor Builders
2014FCS
2015Visit Dallas Cycling
Professional teams
2002Cannondale–USA
2003–2004Team T-Mobile
2005–2008Buitenpoort–Flexpoint[2]
2009Nürnberger[3][4]
2011–2012HTC–Highroad Women
2013Pasta Zara–Cogeas
2015–2016BePink–La Classica
2017Team VéloCONCEPT
2019–Cogeas–Mettler–Look[5]
Major wins
Stage races
Tour de l'Aude (2005, 2006)
Route de France Féminine (2007)
Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche (2008)

One day races

UCI World Time Trial Championships (2008, 2016)
Pan American Time Trial Championships (2006, 2012)
National Road Race Championships (2003, 2017)
National Time Trial Championships (2012, 2017, 2018)
Chrono des Nations (2011)
GP Stad Roeselare (2011)

Career

Early life

At the age of four Neben survived a bout of spinal meningitis, which left her in a coma for three days. Doctors told her parents that she was unlikely to survive, and that if she did, she would probably have endured brain damage and have lost her hearing.[8] Neben played soccer and ran cross-country in junior high and high school. She attended the University of Nebraska on a track and cross-country scholarship. Stress fractures stopped her running and she became an undergraduate assistant coach in distance running. She took up cycling after graduating from college with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She then obtained a master's degree in biology from the University of California, Irvine, having originally commenced studies for a PhD. Whilst she was at UC Irvine she scored a top 10 finish at the national collegiate cycling championships, which persuaded her to exit with her master's degree and focus on professional cycling.[8]

Professional career

She concentrated first on mountain biking but her greatest success was on the road. She won the Rupert to Pomerelle stage of the 2001 Women's Challenge race with its long, steep climb to the finish, the fourth American to win a stage at the Women's Challenge since it became a UCI event. She then concentrated on road cycling and was picked for the road world championship team in 2001 and 2002.

Neben raced again in 2004. She missed placing first by eight seconds in the time trial selection race for the Olympic Games. In spring 2005, she won the Tour de l'Aude in France. She won again in 2006. She was picked for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team and came 33rd in the road race event in Beijing.[9] Later in 2008 she became the World TT Champion.[10]

Neben made the 2012 U.S. Olympic team for the Women's road race, along with Kristin Armstrong, Shelley Olds and Evelyn Stevens. In the Women's time trial she finished 7th.

Doping suspension

Neben tested positive for the banned substance 19-Norandrosterone on May 31st 2003, after she won the Coupe du Monde Montreal World Cup race. The test results were not confirmed until after her "A" sample and "B" sample both returned 6.9ng/ml, which is above the 5ng/ml cutoff. Neben appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] and accepted a provisional suspension from mid-July 2003. Neben said the positive test came from contaminated supplements. As she was a member of the T-Mobile Women's Cycling Team, a trade team owned by USA Cycling, she enlisted USA Cycling top management as witnesses in her defense. Sean Petty, VP of Marketing of USA Cycling, Gerard Bisceglia, CEO for USA Cycling, Steve Johnson, COO and Director of Athletics for USA Cycling, Bob Stapleton, Vice Chair for T-Mobile USA all testified on her behalf. The North American CAS ruled in October 2003 that doping had occurred but that it was not intentional. Neben was suspended, in a split decision, for six months, starting from the provisional ban beginning on July 13, 2003. The ruling also stated that all competitive results which occurred on or after May 31,2003 were cancelled. Therefore, her win at the Coupe du Monde Montreal on May 31st was cancelled, but not her Elite Women's Road Race National Title, which occurred on May 22nd. She would have to be tested for drugs regularly for the following 18 months.[11]

Personal life

She is married to Jason, an assistant professor of education at Concordia University Irvine.[8] In 2007, she underwent a successful program of treatment for melanoma.[8]

Major results
2001
1st Stage 1 GP Féminin International du Canada
1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
1st Stages 1, 2 & 3
1st California State TT Championships
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
5th Overall Women's Challenge
1st Stage 1
2002
1st Overall Gracia Cez-Ede
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 3
National Road Championships
2nd Road race
2nd Time trial
2nd Housatonic Valley Classic
2003
National Road Championships
1st Road race
3rd Time trial
1st Le Tour du Montreal
4th Overall Gracia Orlova
1st Stage 2 ITT[12]
2004
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
7th Overall Giro della Toscana
1st Stage 2
2005
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 3
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2006
1st Pan American Cycling Championships Time Trial
1st Overall Tour de l'Aude
1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st Stages 1 & 2
National Road Championships
2nd Time trial
3rd Road race
2nd Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
2nd Overall Gracia Tour
2nd La Route de France Feminin
2nd L'Heure D'Or Feminin
2007
1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st Stage 2
1st Overall Route de France Féminine
1st Stage 1
National Road Championships
2nd Time trial
3rd Road race
2nd Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
2nd Chrono Champenois – Trophée Européen
3rd Giro San Marino
2008
1st Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International Ardèche
2nd Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
3rd Grand Prix de Suisse
3rd Chrono Champenois – Trophée Européen
2009
1st Stage 3 Gracia-Orlová
1st Stage 2 (TTT) Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 2 Giro d'Italia Femminile
2010
2nd Overall Women's Tour of New Zealand
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2011
1st GP Stad Roeselare
1st Chrono des Nations
2nd Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2012
UCI Road World Championships
1st Team time trial (with Ellen van Dijk, Charlotte Becker, Evelyn Stevens, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and Trixi Worrack)
4th Road race
1st Time trial, Pan American Cycling Championships
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
4th Overall Vuelta a El Salvador
1st Stages 2 & 3b
2014
2nd Overall Cascade Classic
2015
1st Overall San Dimas Stage Race
1st Stage 1 (ITT)
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall La Route de France
2nd Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
3rd Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
3rd Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
4th Tour of California Women's Time Trial
4th Chrono des Nations
2016
1st Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
La Route de France
1st Stages 4 (ITT) & 5
1st Chrono Gatineau
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2017
National Road Championships
1st Road race
1st Time trial
2018
1st Time trial, Pan American Cycling Championships
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
7th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

See also

References
  1. "Amber Neben". Yahoo!. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  2. "Amber Neben Team Profile". Team Flexpoint. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  3. "Amber Neben – Team". AmberNeben.com. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  4. Dreier, Fred (March 26, 2009). "Amber Neben, Ben Day win the prologue at Redlands". VeloNews. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  5. "Organico di 15 atlete per la Cogeas-Mettler con Olga Zabelinskaya e Amber Neben" [Roster of 15 athletes for Cogeas-Mettler with Olga Zabelinskaya and Amber Neben]. Cicloweb.it (in Italian). Cicloweb. January 2, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  6. "Our Team". Cogeas–Mettler–Look. Cogeas. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  7. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2003/may03/USnats03/USnats033
  8. "Amber Neben". USA Cycling. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  9. "Cycling – Women's Road Race". Yahoo!. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  10. "Neben wins élite women's time trial world championship". USA Cycling. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  11. https://www.usada.org/wp-content/uploads/arbitration_ruling_10_21_2003_Neben.pdf
  12. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/?id=2003/may03/gracia03/gracia032
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