NEBEN Amber

Type of rider
Time-trialist (trainingpeaks.com, 01 Jan 2018)

General
OLDER RIDER
She will be age 46 when she competes at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I think it is a pretty cool story. I hope I inspire guys and gals, old and young to continue to dream and persevere. I don't know that my age affects my head that much other than to know I am old. How I race and what I can do in the races is not exactly the same as it was when I was a spring chicken, but that's part of the challenge I enjoy." (velonews.com, 05 May 2021, 22 Sep 2020)

COACHING INSPIRATION
She considered retirement after crashing and sustaining serious injuries at the 2013 Tour of California in the United States of America. She was then contacted by coach Tim Cusick, who continues to train her during the 2021 season. "I knew I was still hungry to try to win big things and if I was going to come back to do this, I was going to come back fully committed and with really big goals. Age aside, I knew it was still in me and I knew I needed help. Tim was observant enough, I think, to see something special in me and gracious enough with his time and knowledge to reach out. That was a big turning point for me as far as the second phase of my career." (trainright.com, 24 Mar 2021; teamusa.org, 20 Nov 2020)

SANCTION
In 2003 she tested positive for elevated levels of nandrolone while competing at an event in Montreal, QC, Canada. She denied that she knowingly ingested a banned substance but accepted an initial voluntary suspension before the US Anti-Doping Agency [USADA] handed her a six-month ban. She received a reduced ban after the USADA accepted her explanation that a supplement she had taken was contaminated with the banned substance. (cyclingnews.com, 07 Mar 2008)