Mara Katherine Abbott (born November 14, 1985) is an American former women's bicycle racer. In 2010, Abbott became the first US cyclist ever to win the

Giro d'Italia Femminile The is an annual women's cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men's Giro d'Italia. The race was previously ...

, one of the Grand Tours of women's bicycle racing. Abbott retired after the

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

road race.

Early life and amateur career

Abbott was born in and, as of 2016, still lives in Boulder, Colorado. She was a competitive swimmer, primarily specializing in distance

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

races, at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Founded as a seminary by a territorial l ...

, which is where she took up road bicycle racing as a springtime activity. 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 Webcor is a commercial construction contractor with headquarters in San Francisco, California. The firm also has regional offices in Alameda, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and is among the largest builders in California with clients inclu ...

team. In addition to a repeat of her college successes, she won one stage and the overall title in the

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI Americ ...

and the 2007 National Cycling Championships women's road race championship, defeating former champions

Kristin Armstrong Kristin Armstrong Savola (; born August 11, 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist, the winner of the women's individual time trial in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Before temporarily retiring to start a f ...

and

Amber Neben Amber Leone Neben (born February 18, 1975) is an American racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Continental Team . Neben won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and 2016 as well as the U.S. national road race champions ...

in a sprint to the finish. She also continued to swim for Whitman in the fall and graduated with a degree in economics from Whitman. 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. The next year, she won stage 3 and the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest ...

jersey in the

, finishing second overall. In 2010, Abbott joined the Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 team and repeated her victories at the

and the USA National Championship Women's Road Race. 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. That same month, she won one stage and the overall title at the

Cascade Cycling Classic The Cascade Cycling Classic was the longest running elite road bicycle racing stage race in the United States (1980–2019), with 2018 being the only year the race was not held. The race was held again in 2019, but then canceled due to Covid in 20 ...

. She also won one stage and finished second in the

Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held annually in the Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Oc ...

. For 2011, Abbott moved to the Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan team. She won one stage and finished second overall in the

, behind 1996 Canadian Olympic medalist

Clara Hughes Clara Hughes (born September 27, 1972) is a Canadian cycle sport, cyclist and speed skating, speed skater who has won multiple Olympic Games, Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals (one g ...

. In 2013, Abbott won her second Giro Rosa. Later that season it was announced that she would join the new

UnitedHealthcare Women’s Team The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Women's Team was a professional women's road bicycle racing Cycling team, team, managed by Momentum Sports Group and based in the United States. The team was principally sponsored by UnitedHealth Group. Its most n ...

in 2014. On October 7, 2014, announced that Abbott had signed with them for the 2015 season. On September 20, 2024, Abbott rode th
Mountain to Desert Classic
in Southwest Colorado

Off the bike

In addition to cycling, Abbott is a yoga instructor. She is a freelance writer 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, a sustainability organization based in Boston.

Major results

Source:Profile
at ''Cycling Archives''
Profile at Cycling Quotient
/ref> ;2005 : 3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships ;2006 : 3rd Overall Mount Hood Classic ;2007 : 1st MaillotUSA

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 2nd Overall

Redlands Bicycle Classic The Redlands Bicycle Classic is the longest continuous running invitational, professional cycle sport, cycling stage race in American bike racing, located in Redlands, California, United States. The race began in 1985 after the 1984 Summer Olympic ...

::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Overall

Nature Valley Grand Prix The North Star Grand Prix is a men's and women's road bicycle racing stage race held each June in Minnesota, United States, as part of the North Star Bicycle Festival. An event was added in North Mankato in 2016. The North Star Grand Prix is one ...

: 2nd Overall

International Tour de Toona The International Tour de Toona was a stage bicycle race held in Central Pennsylvania in July from 1987 until 2011. The event became the largest pro-am cycling event in North America and had stages spanning Blair County, Pennsylvania, Blair, Camb ...

::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Montréal World Cup : 8th Overall

La Route de France The Route de France Féminine was a women's cycle race. First held in 2006, it was rated 2.2 by the UCI for the 2006 and 2007 edition, and 2.1 since. The race was cancelled in 2011, but returned the next year. With the ending of the Grande Bo ...

: 9th Overall Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini ;2008 : 1st Stage 4 Mount Hood Classic : 1st Stage 1 Tour de Feminin-Krásná Lípa : 2nd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

::1st

Prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

: 2nd Overall Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol ::1st Young rider classification : 3rd Overall

San Dimas Stage Race The San Dimas Stage Race is a stage race, stage cycling race held annually in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. It was called the Pomona Valley Stage Race until 2004. Winners Men Women References

{{reflist Cycle races in ...

::1st Stage 1 : 4th Overall

Gracia–Orlová Gracia–Orlová is a women's staged cycle racing, cycle race which takes place in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic and in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. It was created in 1987. Honours Jerseys As of the 2013 edition: ...

: 7th Overall

Giro della Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will ...

::1st Stages 1 ( TTT) & 3 ;2009 : 2nd Overall

{{reflist Cycle races in ...

::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Overall

::1st

Mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

classification ::1st Stage 3 : 3rd Overall Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira : 3rd

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

: 4th Overall

: 4th

Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria is a women's bicycle race held in Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernm ...

: 7th Overall Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol : 7th

La Flèche Wallonne Féminine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

: 8th Overall

: 10th Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs ;2010 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotUSA

Road race ::3rd

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stages 8 & 9 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Overall

{{reflist Cycle races in ...

::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 4 : 6th Overall

;2011 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 10th Overall

;2013 : 1st Overall

{{reflist Cycle races in ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

::1st

Mountains classification ::1st Stages 5 & 6 : 1st Stage 3

: 3rd Overall

: 5th Philadelphia Cycling Classic ;2014 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Vuelta a El Salvador The Vuelta Ciclista a El Salvador (''English'': Tour of El Salvador) is a multi-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually in late April and early May in El Salvador. The Vuelta a El Salvador carries a UCI rating of 2.2 and is part of the ...

::1st Stage 4 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Grand Prix de Oriente : 3rd

Grand Prix GSB The Grand Prix GSB (Grand Saint Bernard) is an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional one-day road bicycle race held in El Salvador. Past winners References

{{reflist Grand Prix GSB, Cycle races in El S ...

: 3rd Grand Prix el Salvador : 4th Overall

: 7th Philadelphia Cycling Classic ;2015 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 9 ;2016 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

: 4th Road race,

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: 5th Overall

::1st Stage 5

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Mara 1985 births Living people American female cyclists American cycling road race champions Cyclists from Boulder, Colorado Whitman College alumni Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for the United States 21st-century American sportswomen American expatriate sportspeople in Germany