9 months later, Mara Roldan races again

Great news for Whitehorse native Mara Roldan – she’s back in the game. And it’s been a long road.

For the last nine months, the 21-year-old has been recovering from a brutal crash at the Tour of Britain in June, just a day after her first WorldTour win in Stage 2.

“One moment I was celebrating my first WorldTour win, the next I was in a hospital bed, wondering if I’d ever ride again this year. It was terrifying,” she said.

The recovery was long and difficult. “Even bending my knee or wiggling my toes took so much effort,” Roldan said. She progressed from crutches to walking unaided, slowly regaining mobility and strength through physiotherapy, light cycling, and short hikes.

Just when things seemed to get better, she hit another snag when she was running in November. She had some bad pain in her hip along nerve issues. “Mentally, it was one of the hardest parts of this recovery yet,” she said

But after lots of physio, she finally felt better. Roldan was cleared to ride outdoors and went to her Picnic–PostNL’s team training camp in early January

Now, after many more miles–she’s racing again. On Saturday, she will race Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium.

“Tomorrow I’ll finally pin on a number again—for the first time in nine months since my femur fracture. The journey getting here has been anything but smooth, filled with setbacks, doubts, and a lot of patience. I’m beyond excited to have the chance to start my season tomorrow,” she said.

After a long and trying time, she couldn’t be happier to do what she loves: compete. Given that this is her first race back, she is more concerned about the experience of racing–and certainly not chasing a result.

“There will be no expectations going into tomorrow, no pressure to perform, just building confidence in the peloton again, helping my teammates where I can, and slowly starting the process of finding my race legs back,” she said.

She joked, “Let’s hope I remember how to ride cobbles!” It’s great to see her back where she belong: in the pro peloton. Cycling is a cruel sport, as Mike Woods once said–but the lows make the highs that much better.