After Omloop return, Mara Roldan hit by driver while training

Nine months after a brutal crash at the Tour of Britain, Whitehorse native Mara Roldan finally pinned on a race number again. But once again, she finds herself fighting after being struck by a motorist while training and being forced to take time off the bike.

Her comeback came at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It’s hardly an easy way to jump back into the pro peloton. The Belgian opener is chaotic even in the best circumstances.

“It was a roller coaster,” she said.

The comeback race

The 21-year-old had not raced since June. The Team Picnic PostNL rider crashed at the Tour of Britain just a day after claiming her first WorldTour stage victory. The physical recovery was long–but she finally got back on the bike, and went to team training camps. On Saturday, she was back in action on slick roads, facing the nervous energy and relentless intensity of the Classics. Still, being back in the bunch meant everything

“It was amazing just to be back with my teammates in that environment,” she said. “Hearing people scream my name from the side of the road, riders coming up to me in the peloton saying it’s nice to see me back. Racing was really a special feeling.”

Roldan’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

But the nerves were there. The rain didn’t help.

“The mental aspect is challenging,” she said. “I’m working through that inner insecurity and not being as confident as I was. I think that’s normal. I just have to be patient with myself and let the confidence come back.”

Mara Roldan’s ‘pocket listing’ performance of the spring

Her race unravelled in frustratingly familiar fashion. On the Holleweg cobblestones, the same stretch that caused her problems last year, she flatted again. By the time she got a wheel change and tried to chase back on, the race was effectively gone.

“At this point in the season, I just didn’t have the fitness to come back from that,” she said. “That was rough.”

Still, it was a start. After months of rehab, she had made it back to the line.

Another setback, hopefully shorter

Then, days later, more bad luck struck.

Roldan was training near her home in Sittard, The Netherlands. About two kilometres from her front door, Roldan was hit by a driver that turned into her path. She went down hard and struck her head. She is now following concussion protocol.

“It was very scary,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been struck with quite a bit of bad luck.”

The timing stings. With her return to racing…