- published: 13 Nov 2015
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Amber Neben (born February 18, 1975) is an American racing cyclist who won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and the U.S. national road race championship in 2003. She is the only active American female cyclist to win multiple UCI category 1 stage races, having won the Gracia Tour in 2002, theTour du Montreal in 2003 and the Tour de l'Aude in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2010 Neben is riding for the Webcor Builders Cycling Team
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.
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.