Neben says she has no timeline on return from broken hip, ribs
Former world champion says she will return to racing after her Amgen Tour crash, but isn't certain when
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Former time trial world champion Amber Neben (Pasta Zara) said on Friday that she did not have a timeline for her return to racing following a hard crash in the women’s TT at the Amgen Tour of California last week.
Neben appeared to be riding toward a podium place in San Jose when she overcooked a corner and crashed into a road embankment on the course’s technical descent. She suffered a broken hip and two broken ribs in the crash and will miss her title defense at the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Saturday.
“Considering how bad the crash was, I am doing very well,” said Neben in a team press release. “I was going very well. I think that I would have won the race. I know I was already very fast to the point where I crashed, and I felt very good. Bike racing is hard sometimes! I don’t have yet a timetable for a return but I am doing little things to fire muscles in my legs isometrically. Thanks everyone for the support and prayers.”
Neben, 38, won her first TT national title in 2012 in Augusta, Georgia. She was part of the world champion Specialized-lululemon squad for the team time trial in Limburg, Netherlands, in September and was fourth in the road race days later.
Pasta Zara’s Addyson Albershart will start the time trial on Saturday in Chattanooga. Albershart and Amber Pierce will represent the Italian squad in Monday’s road race.