Amber Leone Neben is an American racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team. Neben won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and 2016 as well as the U.S. national road race championship in 2003 and 2017.
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. 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.
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. Later in 2008 she became the World TT Champion. 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 substance19-Norandrosterone on May 31st 2003, after she won the Coupe du MondeMontreal 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 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.
