Veteran Amber Neben produced a stunning performance to become a double world champion yesterday.
The 41-year-old rider, who had claimed the women’s world time trial gold in 2008, was crowned champion once more after winning the 28.9km test in searing Doha heat with a time of 36 minutes 37.04 seconds.
“It’s unbelievable,” a delighted but emotionally spent Neben said before the medal ceremony.
Neben left the cycling world in awe of her longevity and perseverance as she became the second oldest women ever to win the event after France’s Jeannie Longo, who won aged 42 in 2001.
“It was a long wait. I think I used more energy sitting there (waiting for the other riders to finish) than I did on the bike. I was so nervous. It was so hard to watch. The difference today was the mental perseverance. This one was more special because of everything that has happened between 2008 and now,” said the American who was not among the title contenders.
Dutch woman Ellen van Dijk came up just short yet again, but her epic battle with Neben was the highlight of the race.
“I feel for Ellen, but am so excited for myself,” Neben said.
Neben started halfway the field, at the hottest moment of the day. German Trixi Worrack and Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten rode just before her, both setting the best time until that moment. Both the German and the Dutch girl were waiting in medal positions for quite a while, with Worrack pushed out of the hot seat when Van Dijk rode the second best time. The German eventually ended up sixth in 37:48.18.
Last year’s silver medallist Anna van der Breggen, who won this year’s Olympic Road Race and the Individual Time Trial at the recent European Championships, could not impress. She finished 13th.
Katrin Garfoot of Australia found something in the final couple of kilometres to win bronze and Annemiek van Vleuten, who cracked three bones in her neck only two months ago in the Rio Olympic time trial, was on course for a fairytale bronze medal for much of the race, but was eventually edged down into the fifth.
Neben, who survived a bout of spinal meningitis at the age of four, leaving her in a coma for three days and doctors fearing brain damage if she survived, has plans to give back something to the game.
“I will race a little bit next year. I’d like to target some big races. I would also like to start a team in the US to pair with my UCI team to help some younger riders. And also I’d like to talk about some issues that young high school girls might have with depression and use our stories as athletes to help those people. I have the passion in my heart to be able to encourage young people to set goals to persevere,” she said.
Neben’s victory completed a brilliant year for US women’s time trilling, after her fellow veteran Kristin Armstrong’s won gold in Rio.
Comparing her 2008 victory with yesterday’s, she said, “This one is more special, simply because the journey over the last eight years. After I won in 2008, I had a series of two or three years with really bad accidents, having to get up and not giving up multiple times. I’m almost at the end of my career and then to come back from that and fight through it and still be here has been special. God’s blessed me with a victory and I’m humble.”
Van Dijk said she was “satisfied” with silver.
“I am satisfied, because I left it all out there on the course. Silver is silver and Amber was simply better. Yeah, I won’t say I am happy with it, but satisfied, I have to be satisfied,” the Dutch rider who finished fourth in the Rio Games said.
“In Rio I was close to the gold, but I screwed it up myself, but this time, I would have loved to take the rainbow stripes, but I didn’t. It’s a Time Trial, I love the Time Trial because it’s such an honest discipline, the best girl wins and today that was Amber.”
Van Dijk seemed to be on course to beat Neben’s time, when she set the fastest intermediate times at the first two sections, but she couldn’t hold on to that advantage. At the third split she was two seconds behind. With Neben watching nervously from the hot seat, Van Dijk crossed the finish line 5.99 seconds adrift.
“There are always things you can improve, my corners were not perfect, but it’s not that something went dramatically wrong like in Rio, so this was it for today,” the 29-year-old rider said.
When asked what the difference between Neben and her today, she said, “I think the difference is pretty obvious. It was six seconds.”

RESULTS
WOMEN’S TIME TRIAL
1. Amber Neben (US) 36:37.04”
2. Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) +5.99”
3. Katrin Garfoot (Australia) +8.32”
4. Olga Zabelinskaya (Russia) +11.52”
5. Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) +25.79”
6. Lisa Brennauer (Germany) +57.59”
7. Trixi Worrack (Germany) +1:11.14”
8. Ann-Sophie Duyck (Belgium) +1:27.96”
9. Katarzyna Pawlowska (Poland) +1:36.49”
10. Alena Amialiusik (Belarus) +1:41.59”

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