Amber Neben shows off her gold medal from the 2016 UCI Road World Championships elite women's time trial(Image credit: Michael Aisner)
Amber Neben (Velo Concepts) attacks on the climb(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Amber Neben (Velo Concepts) shows the excitement of her win(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Amber Neben (United States Of America) riding to the gold(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Amber Neben's World Championships got off to a disappointing start in the team time trial but the American is looking to turn things around in the women's individual time trial on Tuesday.
Neben, 42, lost contact with her Team Virtu Cycling Women teammates in the TTT on Sunday when her chain became entangled with her crank. She was forced to wait for mechanical assistance and her team carried on to finish a respectable fifth in the 42.5km test.
Neben completed the course but her real aim comes on Tuesday when she looks to defend the individual crown she won twelve months ago in Doha, Qatar. She has raced sparingly this season but claimed both the national road and time trial titles earlier this year and despite Sunday's setback is raring to go.
"It was about 25 kilometres in and I lost my chain and it wrapped around the crank arm," she told Cyclingnews. "There was nothing that I could do but stop, get off the bike and allow the mechanic to get it back on.
"They had the girls carry on but I was so close. I think that I stayed about a kilometre back the whole time. It was just unfortunate but there was nothing I could do. It was out of my control."
Despite not seeing her teammates again until the finish Neben was able to use the race as a marker ahead of Tuesday. On Monday she will preview the individual course in more detail before looking to fend off a world class field over the demanding course. She will go up against last year's podium of Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) and Katrin Garfoot (Australia), while Olga Zabelinskaya (Russian Federation) and Annemiek Van Vleuten (Netherlands) will also feature.
"I felt good today. It was a bit of a different effort than the one that I was expecting. Normally with the TTT it's a little more over, under but I'll open it up a bit more tomorrow. Things are going okay and I'm building up to Tuesday and that's when we'll see what I've got.
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"The individual course is hard. It's difficult from a pacing standpoint and there are some technical sections as well. It's going to be challenging and I've not quite figured it out yet but I'm still working on it. This has been a goal and I'm going for it. The whole Dutch and German teams are on form but I'll just try and do my best."
The US qualified four spots for the time trial and Neben will be joined by Chloe Dygert, Lauren Stephens and Tayler Wiles.
Cyclingnews will have full live coverage of the women's time trial on Tuesday.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
