Amber Neben dared to try to hold off the sprinters in Saturday's elite women's road racing world championships on the 21km Madrid circuit course that almost everyone agrees favors a mass gallop. Neben, winner of the Tour de L'Aude earlier this season, sprung away after the second climb with about 7km to go to nearly catch the sprinters by surprise. Neben clung to a five-second gap, but was reeled in with 4km to go before the powerful German team sling-shot Regina Schleicher into the rainbow jersey. "I was able to get a gap there, but I didn't have the legs to stick it," said Neben, who rolled across the line 33rd at six seconds back. "Hopefully we had Tina, Kristin or Christine to finish it off, but the Germans were too strong." The German team throttled the final lap to neutralize attacks by Neben, fellow American Christine Thorburn and Spanish star Joane Somarriba. Germany then put two three riders on the front to reel in Neben's dangerous move to set up the sprint down Madrid's Paseo de la Castellana. Her teammates led Schleicher through the final U-turn at about 600 meters to go and she did the rest, holding off Nicole Cooke (England) and Oenone Wood (Australia) to defend Germany’s hold on a title won by compatriot Judith Arndt last year. "The team worked perfectly to set me up for the sprint and I just had to do my job," said Schleicher, 31. "I can't believe I am world champion. Maybe it will sink in in a few days." Cooke and Wood, who took silver and bronze, respectively, tipped their hat to their German adversary. Cooke, the brilliant young British rider who's won world titles in the junior ranks, fell into tears after losing by a bike length. "Now it's another 12 months I have to watch another rider race in the rainbow jersey," Cooke said. "I didn't do much wrong. I was beaten by a very, very fast sprinter." Wood, who chased down Somarriba when the Spanish rider attacked on the hardest climb on the circuit course with 13km to go, said she was happy the German riders were there to check Neben's move. "That was a very dangerous moment. Amber's a strong rider and she's won races like that before," said Wood, who celebrated her birthday with a bronze medal. "The Germans did what they had to do, or maybe she might have been gone." Twenty-eight riders came in for the final sprint, with Kristin Armstrong and Thorburn coming through 17th and 18th, respectively. The bunch split when Somarriba attacked, spitting top American sprinter Tina Pic out the back. "The final climb was too much for me, I lost contact there," said Tina Pic, finishing 38th at 1:14 back in her fourth world's. "It was very technical in between the climbs, everyone was fighting for position. If I would have been there, they might have tried to set me up for the sprint. This was the best world's team ever. We were so cohesive, everyone helping everyone else out." With Pic gone, the Americans tried to blow open the race. Thorburn attacked hard on the final climb, but the super-motivated Spanish team wouldn't let her get off too far away. Just as she was reeled in and the bunch caught its collective breath, Neben played her card only to be reeled in by the Germans. That last turn
The controversial U-turn at 600 meters to go - nicknamed "McEwen's Corner" because it seems to favor Australian Robbie McEwen's handling skills - wasn't a major factor after race organizers widened the radius of the turn. Following complaints from riders after last weekend's Vuelta a España finish on the same finishing straight, the right corner was widened by taking the route through a traffic circle, creating a more gradual turn that makes for a cleaner line. The finish line was also move further up the street compared to the Vuelta finish, with McEwen measuring the distance to be just shy of 700 meters. In the women's race, Wood said the corner still forced the bunch to slow, but there remained plenty of road to reorganize the group. "It bunched it up because everyone had to slow down. I got boxed out, but the final sprint is so long that it gives you a chance to recover your position," Wood said. "If it was shorter, I would have been like on the 15th wheel, but I was able to get back in the right position."

Britain's Nicole Cooke, who finished second behind the German champion, feels the organisers have made the right decision.

"It wasn't a problem having the corner there - if not it might have been more dangerous," said the 22-year-old Welshwoman. "I think they made the right decision."

Neben tried her hand at an attack with 7km to go

Photo: Graham Watson

The change might be considered a benefit to Italian Alessandro Petacchi, who, unlike McEwen, usually relies a strong lead-out train to set him up for the final sprint.

The scrappy Aussie, adept at fighting for the right wheel and then launching his sprint from the field, isn’t too worried.

"If we're going to sprint for the world title it won't be a big group at all, maybe 40 guys but it's a course that's also good for attacking riders like Paolo Bettini (of Italy), (Belgian) Peter Van Petegem and just about the whole Spanish team so it will be a race on a 'knife edge' - one where attacking guys will have to be really good to stay away and to get them back the sprinters' teams are going to have to be really organized,” he said on Friday. "We'll only know really what it's (course) like after we watch the women's race tomorrow (Saturday)." World women's road racing championship
Madrid, Spain, September 24, 2005
1. Regina Schleicher (G), 126km in 3:08:52
2. Nicole Cooke (GB), same time
3. Oenone Wood (Aus), s.t.
4. Dorte Rasmussen (Dk), s.t.
5. Chantal Beltman (Nl), s.t.
6. Giorgia Bronzini (I), s.t.
7. Susanne Ljungskog (S), s.t.
8. Anita Valen (N), s.t.
9. Jolanta Polikeviciute (Lit), s.t.
10. Trixi Worrack (G), s.t.
11. Diana Ziliute (Lit), s.t.
12. Priska Doppmann (Swi), s.t.
13. Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Nl), s.t.
14. Susan Palmer-Komar (Can), s.t.
15. Mette Fischer Andreasen (Dk), s.t.
16. Edita Pucinskaite (Lit), s.t.
17. Kristin Armstrong (USA), s.t.
18. Christine Thorburn (USA), s.t.
19. Nicole Brandli (Swi), s.t.
20. Maria Teodora Ruano Sanchon (Sp), s.t.