- Mara Abbott
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Mara Abbott Personal information Full name Mara Katherine Abbott Born November 14, 1985
Boulder, Colorado
United StatesHeight 5'5" (1.52 m) Weight 115 lb (52 kg) Team information Current team Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan Discipline Road Role Rider Professional team(s) 2007
2008-2009
2010
2011Webcor Builders
HTC-Highroad Women
Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12
Diadora-Pasta Zara-ManhattanMajor wins 
Giro Donne (2010)
USA National Championship Women's Road Race (2007, 2010)
Tour of the Gila (2007, 2010)Infobox last updated on
May 18, 2011Mara Abbott (born November 14, 1985) is an American professional women's bicycle racer who currently rides for the Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan team. In 2010, Abbott became the first American ever to win the Giro Donne, one of the Grand Tours of women's bicycle racing.
Background
Abbott was born and 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 springtme activity.[2] 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.
She turned professional in 2007 and joined the Webcor Builders team.[3] 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.[4] She also continued to swim for Whitman in the fall and graduated with a degree in economics from Whitman.[1][5]
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.[6] 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.[7][8] That same month, she won one stage and the overall title at the Cascade Cycling Classic.[9] She also won one stage and finished second in the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin.[10][11]
For 2011, Abbott moved to the Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan team.[12] She won one stage and finished second overall in the Tour of the Gila, behind 1996 Canadian Olympic medalist Clara Hughes.[13][14]
In addition to cycling, Abbott is a certified yoga instructor and enthusiast who spends at least an hour a day at yoga, even during race days.[15]
Palmares
2011: Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan
- Tour of the Gila, Stage 1
- 2nd overall, Tour of the Gila
2010: Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12
- Giro Donne, Overall
- Giro Donne, Stage 8
- Giro Donne, Stage 9
- USA National Championship Women's Road Race
- Tour of the Gila, Overall
- Tour of the Gila, Stage 1
- Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin, Stage 4
- 2nd overall, Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
- Cascade Cycling Classic, Overall
- Cascade Cycling Classic, Stage 3
2009: HTC-Columbia Women's Team
- Giro Donne, Stage 3
Giro Donne, King of the Mountains classification- 2nd overall, Giro Donne
- 3rd overall, Emakumeen Bira
2008: HTC-Columbia Women's Team
- Giro della Toscana, Lari-Volterra stage
- Tour de Feminin Krasna Lipa, Stage 1
- Redlands Cycling Classic, Prologue
- Mount Hood Stage Rage, Stage 4
2007: Webcor Builders
- USA National Championship Women's Road Race
- Tour of the Gila, Overall
- Tour of the Gila, Stage 2
- Redlands Cycling Classic, Stage 1
- 2nd Overall, Montréal World Cup
Notes
- ^ a b c d "USA Cycling Profile, Mara Abbott". USA Cycling. http://www.usacycling.org/news/user?story.php?id=5532. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ "Biography of Mara Abbott". Whitman College. http://www.whitman.edu/athletics/bios/bio.cfm/swimming/mabbott. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ "2007 Biography of Mara Abbott". Webcor Builders. http://www.webcorcycling.com/2007/bios/abbott.html. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Press release (2007-08-30). "National Magazines Turn Spotlight on Whitman Cycling Phenom". Whitman College. http://www.whitman.edu/athletics/Spotlight/MaraAbbottMagazines.html. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Press release (2007-09-27). "Mara Abbott '08 places ninth in Italian stage race; prepares for World Championship race". Whitman College. http://www.whitman.edu/whitman/index.cfm?objectid=4792851B-C8BF-6671-27FC004E12BF5404. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
- ^ "Mara Abbott Biography". HTC-Highroad Women. http://www.highroadsports.com/images/uploads/athletes/pdfs/3.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Press release (2010-07-11). "Mara Abbott 1st American to win overall Giro Donne". USA Cycling. http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=5146. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Caley Fretz (2010-07-11). "Mara Abbott becomes first American to win Giro Donne, Shelley Evans takes final stage". VeloNews. http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/07/news/mara-abbott-becomes-first-american-to-win-giro-donne-shelley-evans-takes-final-stage_128298. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Brian Holcombe (2010-07-25). "Abbott and Sutherland secure Cascade Cycling Classic wins after final road race". VeloNews. http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/07/news/abbott-and-sutherland-secure-cascade-cycling-classic-wins-after-final-road-race_131641. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Greg Johnson (2010-05-18). "Abbot victorious in Osseja". Cyclingnews.com. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-laude-cycliste-feminin-2-1/stage-4/results. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Stephen Farrand (2010-05-23). "Emma Pooley wins Tour de l'Aude". Cyclingnews.com. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-laude-cycliste-feminin-2-1/stage-9/results. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Ben Atkins (2010-09-23). "Transfer News: Mara Abbott signs for Safi-Pasta Zara". Velonation.com. http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5765/Transfer-News-Mara-Abbott-signs-for-Safi-Pasta-Zara.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Kirsten Frattini (2011-04-27). "Abbott, Mancebo prevail on windy Mogollon stage". Cyclingnews.com. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/sram-tour-of-the-gila-ne-1/stage-1-mogollon-road-race/results. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Cycling News (2011-05-02). "Mancebo wins final stage and overall at Gila". Cyclingnews.com. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/sram-tour-of-the-gila-ne-1/stage-5-gila-monster-road-race/results. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ^ Kris Thompson (2010-03-23). "Yoga with Mara Abbott". 303cycling.com. http://303cycling.com/yoga-for-cyclist-with-mara-abbott. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- American cyclists
- Female cyclists
- American cycling road race champions
- People from Boulder, Colorado
- Sportspeople from Colorado
- Whitman College alumni
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