Mara Abbott

Mara Katherine Abbott (born November 14, 1985) is a U.S. professional women's bicycle racer who rides on the Wiggle High5 team. In 2010, Abbott became the first U.S. cyclist ever to win the Giro Donne, one of the Grand Tours of women's bicycle racing. Abbott retired after the 2016 Olympic Games road race.[3]

Mara Abbott
Personal information
Full nameMara Katherine Abbott
Born (1985-11-14) November 14, 1985
Boulder, Colorado,
United States
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1]
Weight115 lb (52 kg)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimbing specialist[2]
Amateur team
2015LA Sweat
Professional teams
2007Webcor Builders
2008–2009HTC-Highroad Women
2010Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12
2011Diadora-Pasta Zara
2013Exergy TWENTY16
2014UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team
2015–2016Wiggle High5
Major wins
Stage races
Giro Rosa (2010, 2013)
Tour of the Gila (2007, 2010, 2013–2016)
Vuelta a El Salvador (2014)

One day races

National Road Race Champion (2007, 2010)

Early life and amateur career

Abbott was born in and, as of 2016, still lives in Boulder, Colorado.[1] She was a competitive swimmer, primarily specializing in distance freestyle races, at Whitman College, which is where she took up road bicycle racing as a springtime activity.[4] After competing for Whitman in two straight National College Cycling Association Division II championships, where the team won back-to-back championships in both the team time trial and the team omnium, and Abbott won back-to-back championships in the road race and also won the criterium and the individual omnium in 2006, Abbott placed fifth in the USA National Championship Women's Road Race. She also won back-to-back championships in the Mount Evans Hill Climb in 2005 and 2006.

Professional career

Abbott turned professional in 2007 and joined the Webcor Builders team.[5] In addition to a repeat of her college successes, she won one stage and the overall title in the Tour of the Gila and the 2007 National Cycling Championships women's road race championship, defeating former champions Kristin Armstrong and Amber Neben in a sprint to the finish.[6] She also continued to swim for Whitman in the fall and graduated with a degree in economics from Whitman.[1][7]

Abbott joined the HTC-Columbia Women's Team in 2008 and began to excel in European races, winning a mountain stage in the Giro della Toscana.[8] The next year, she won stage 3 and the King of the Mountains jersey in the Giro Donne, finishing second overall.[1] In 2010, Abbott joined the Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 team and repeated her victories at the Tour of the Gila and the USA National Championship Women's Road Race.[1] She won two more stages and the overall championship at the Giro Donne, which was the only women's Grand Tour event held in 2010.[9][10] That same month, she won one stage and the overall title at the Cascade Cycling Classic.[11] She also won one stage and finished second in the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin.[12][13]

For 2011, Abbott moved to the Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan team.[14] She won one stage and finished second overall in the Tour of the Gila, behind 1996 Canadian Olympic medalist Clara Hughes.[15][16]

In 2013, Abbott won her second Giro Rosa.[17] Later that season it was announced that she would join the new UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team in 2014.[18]

On October 7, 2014, Wiggle High5 announced that Abbott had signed with them for the 2015 season.[19]

Off the bike

In addition to cycling, Abbott is a yoga instructor.[20] She is a freelance writer published in the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado as well as the Wall Street Journal and espnW.

Palmares

Source:[21]

2005
3rd U23 National Road Cycling Championships
2006
3rd Overall Mount Hood Classic
2007
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stage 2
1st National Road Cycling Championships
2nd Overall Redlands Cycling Classic
1st Stage 1
2nd Montréal World Cup
2nd Overall Nature Valley Grand Prix
2nd Overall Tour de Toona
1st stage 1
2008
1st Stage 4 Mount Hood Classic
1st Stage 1 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine
1st Stage 1 (TTT) & 3 Giro della Toscana
2nd Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st Prologue
2nd Overall Giro del Trentino
2nd National Time Trial Championships
3rd Overall San Dimas Stage Race
1st Stage 1
2009
2nd Overall San Dimas Stage Race
1st Stage 1
2nd Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Stage 3
1st Mountains classification
3rd Boulder Criterium
3rd Overall Emakumeen Bira
2010
1st National Road Cycling Championships
1st Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Stages 8 & 9
1st Overall Cascade Classic
1st Stage 3
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stage 1
2nd Overall San Dimas Stage Race
1st Stage 1
2nd Overall Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 4
3rd National Time Trial Championships
2011
2nd Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stage 1
10th Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
2013
1st Overall San Dimas Stage Race
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 3 Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 5 and 6
3rd Overall Cascade Classic
2014
1st Grand Prix de Oriente
1st Overall Vuelta a El Salvador
1st Stage 4
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stages 1 & 5
2015
1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
1st Stage 3
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stages 1 & 5
2nd Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Stage 9
2016
1st Overall Tour of the Gila
1st Stages 1 & 5
1st Stage 5 Giro d'Italia Femminile
4th Olympic road race
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References
  1. "Mara Abbott". USA Cycling. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  2. Frattini, Kirsten (April 15, 2016). "The who's who of elite women in American bike racing". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  3. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mara-abbott-announces-retirement-from-professional-cycling/
  4. "World-class cyclist credits Whitman for start". Whitman College. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  5. "2007 Biography of Mara Abbott". Webcor Builders. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  6. Press release (August 30, 2007). "National Magazines Turn Spotlight on Whitman Cycling Phenom". Whitman College. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  7. Press release (September 27, 2007). "Mara Abbott '08 places ninth in Italian stage race; prepares for World Championship race". Whitman College. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  8. "Mara Abbott Biography" (PDF). HTC-Highroad Women. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  9. Press release (July 11, 2010). "Mara Abbott 1st American to win overall Giro Donne". USA Cycling. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  10. Caley Fretz (July 11, 2010). "Mara Abbott becomes first American to win Giro Donne, Shelley Evans takes final stage". VeloNews. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  11. Brian Holcombe (July 25, 2010). "Abbott and Sutherland secure Cascade Cycling Classic wins after final road race". VeloNews. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  12. Greg Johnson (May 18, 2010). "Abbot victorious in Osseja". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  13. Stephen Farrand (May 23, 2010). "Emma Pooley wins Tour de l'Aude". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  14. Ben Atkins (September 23, 2010). "Transfer News: Mara Abbott signs for Safi-Pasta Zara". Velonation.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  15. Kirsten Frattini (April 27, 2011). "Abbott, Mancebo prevail on windy Mogollon stage". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  16. Cycling News (May 2, 2011). "Mancebo wins final stage and overall at Gila". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  17. "Mara Abbott clinches title in 2013 Giro Rosa". VeloNews.com.
  18. Weislo, Laura (September 7, 2013). "Abbott, Tamayo and Powers to headline new UnitedHealthcare women's team". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  19. "Mara Abbott and Anna Christian sign for Wiggle Honda in 2015". wigglehonda.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014.
  20. Kris Thompson (March 23, 2010). "Yoga with Mara Abbott". 303cycling.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  21. Profile at Cycling Archives; Profile at Cycling Quotient
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