Neben breaks elbow in training crash

World time trial champion Amber Neben got her preparation for the 2009 season off to a bad start when she crashed and broke her elbow on her very first training ride for the new season. Neben's new team, Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung, announced Friday morning that the 33 year-old will only be able to do limited training in the next four weeks.

Neben crashed when she slid out on oil-smeared asphalt near her home in Irvine, California, USA. New Equipe sports director Jochen Dornbusch said that he had spoken with her and that "if everything goes well, she can start to train again properly in a few weeks. That will be enough for a good preparation for the coming season."

This season Neben won the Tour Cycliste Feminin International Ardèche and was second overall in the Giro d'Italia Femminile, before winning the world time trial title in Varese. The American turned pro in 2002 with Cannondale, and rode with T-Mobile Team from 2003 to 2004 before joining Team Flexpoint for four years.