Mara Abbott facts for kids

Mara Katherine Abbott, born on November 14, 1985, is a former American professional bicycle racer. She made history in 2010 by becoming the first U.S. cyclist to win the Giro d'Italia Femminile, a super important race in women's cycling. Mara stopped racing professionally after the 2016 Olympic Games road race.

Mara Abbott's Early Life and Amateur Cycling

Mara Abbott was born in and still lives in Boulder, Colorado. Before she became a famous cyclist, she was a competitive swimmer. She focused on long-distance freestyle swimming at Whitman College. It was there that she started road bicycle racing as a fun activity in the spring.

Mara quickly became good at cycling. She competed for Whitman College in national championships. Her team won championships in team time trials and overall team events. Mara also won individual championships in road races and other cycling events in 2006. She also won the Mount Evans Hill Climb race two years in a row, in 2005 and 2006.

Mara Abbott's Professional Cycling Career

Mara Abbott became a professional cyclist in 2007. She joined the Webcor Builders team. She continued her winning streak, taking home a stage win and the overall title at the Tour of the Gila. She also won the 2007 National Cycling Championships women's road race. She even beat famous cyclists like Kristin Armstrong and Amber Neben in a close finish. Even while racing professionally, she kept swimming for Whitman College and earned a degree in economics.

In 2008, Mara joined the HTC-Columbia Women's Team. This is when she started doing really well in European races. She won a mountain stage in the Giro della Toscana. The next year, she won a stage and the "King of the Mountains" jersey at the Giro d'Italia Femminile, finishing second overall.

Winning the Giro d'Italia Femminile

In 2010, Mara joined the Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 team. She won the Tour of the Gila and the 2010 National Cycling Championships women's road race again. But her biggest win that year was at the Giro d'Italia Femminile. She won two stages and the overall championship. This was a huge achievement, as it was the only major women's cycling tour held that year. In the same month, she won a stage and the overall title at the Cascade Cycling Classic.

For 2011, Mara moved to the Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan team. She won a stage and finished second overall in the Tour of the Gila. In 2013, she won her second Giro Rosa title. After this big win, it was announced that she would join the new UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team in 2014.

In October 2014, the WHT team announced that Mara had signed with them for the 2015 season. She continued to race and achieve great results until her retirement.

Mara Abbott's Life Off the Bike

Besides cycling, Mara Abbott is also a yoga instructor. She is a freelance writer and has had her articles published in the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado, as well as the Wall Street Journal and espnW. As of March 2021, she works for Ceres, an organization that focuses on making businesses more sustainable.

Major Cycling Achievements

Here are some of Mara Abbott's most important cycling results:

Images for kids

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  The U.S. National Road Race Champion's jersey.

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  The red jersey, often worn by the leader of a race.

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  The green jersey, often worn by the leader in the mountains classification.

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  The pink jersey, worn by the leader of the Giro d'Italia Femminile.

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  The yellow jersey, worn by the leader of some stage races.

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  The polka dot jersey, worn by the leader in the mountains classification in some races.

See also

In Spanish: Mara Abbott para niños