I have just finished my first race of the year, the Redlands Classic . . . .

I won the first stage, the time trial.  It was my first chance to race in the world championship rainbows in America, and it was a very special moment.  The opportunity to wear the white skinsuit with the rainbow stripes on my home soil with my husband and coach around was ... YES... definitely a huge honor for me... AND I won!! It was a good day, and a great way to start the year.  I am certainly excited to have the opportunity to race this year as the world champion.  It is a huge honor.  (It also brings a lot more attention!  There are more people that want to touch you, hear what you have to say, or just be around you!)

The second stage brought a Euro style race.  We had a relatively flat stage with some BIG winds.  Unfortunately, I lost all of my development riders today.  I think their inexperience in these conditions helped to get the best of them.  My German teammates had some bad luck, too.  Marie punctured just before the race exploded in the cross wind section, and Romy was struggling with her back.  Madi, was a superstar for me, though, and was able to give me just enough shelter to put me in a position to bridge up to the break which had HighRoad's Ina Teutenberg in it.  She is not usually a GC rider, but for the week, I could see that she was the one they wanted to win with, especially, with all the time bonus sprints.  I was able to fend off the dangerous move in the race, and play enough poker to protect myself from the complete Tibco and High Road teams trying to make my life difficult.  I finished in the front group of 15, and I held on to the yellow (leader's) jersey.

The third day was the downtown criterium.  It actually was kind of fun for me to try to follow Ina around all day in a crit.  Most of you may know that she is one of the best sprinters in the world, while I am a little climber with mostly slow twitch muscle fibers... Typically, we are not worried about each other in these types of races, but today was a different race.  I had to try to sprint against her!  I laughed when my director says on the radio, "Amber...just stay with Ina."  It was a great mental challenge for the day.  I did get a 3rd to her in a time bonus sprint, which helped me hold on to the jersey at the end of the day.

The last day was the sunset loop.  I had a 2 sec lead, but there were time bonuses at the finish and one in the middle.  I knew I was going to have to race for the win, because the second place rider had a full team who could protect her and take her to the finish for the bonus seconds.  I was a bit disappointed when I woke up feeling a little under the weather.  I don't think it made a difference, but it certainly changed up my desire to be aggressive early.  My German teammates did what they could on the downhills on the first two laps, but they were still struggling with their legs, the early season racing, and their jetlag.  I was happy they gave me their hearts.  However, I ended up having to race against Ina and her 5 teammates.  And since there weren't many other teams racing, it was a little bit too easy to just sit on me all day.  I had a few moments where I saw daylight, but Ina was too good and too smart, and her team too motivated to keep the race in their hands.  I ended up losing the overall by 1 second. 

I fought hard for 4 days!  It was a great challenge, and a good way for me to start my racing.  I am in good shape, but I am not at my best...which is exactly where I want to be at this point in time.  The week also gave me a chance to share my experiences with two riders from the USWCDP, my German teammates, our host family, and two schools.  The school visits took place before the race started, and each school had me talk for about 45 minutes to about 100 kids.  The first were mostly 2nd and 3rd graders, and the second was a mix of 1st through 6th.  And I think they could have asked me questions for 2 hours without a problem.  Anyway, it was a full week of racing and interacting with the community.

Oh yeah... I did win the Carole King Sportsmanship Award handed out by the Redlands Race Organization.  That actually means a lot to me, since I value the things the award stands for.

I am off to Europe on Wednesday.  I will be racing the Vlaanderen (Flanders) World Cup on Sunday and a race in Belgium (Dottignies) on Monday.  I will keep you posted on the results, and the upcoming events.  I hope to be a big contributor to my teammates' success now.  It is my time of the year to bury myself for them.  Giddy up.

All the best,

Amber Neben