{"id":84806,"date":"2025-08-20T23:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84806\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:25:10","slug":"how-the-heck-is-mara-roldan-feeling-these-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84806\/","title":{"rendered":"How the heck is Mara Roldan feeling these days?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Michael Woods said, cycling is a cruel, cruel sport.
Just days after one of the most unforgettable moments of her career, Mara Roldan faced the worst-case scenario. It was a crash<\/a> that left her with a broken femur. \u201cThose 48 hours were surreal,\u201d she said. \u201cOne moment I was celebrating my first women\u2019s worldtour win, the next I was in a hospital bed, wondering if I\u2019d ever ride again this year. It was terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those 48 hours<\/p>\n

The early days after surgery were brutal. \u201cEven bending my knee or wiggling my toes took so much effort,\u201d Roldan recalled. She spent over a week in the UK<\/a> hospital under close watch, as swelling put her at risk of complications. Fortunately, the swelling eased, and she returned \u201chome\u201d to Sittard in the Netherlands to start rehab.<\/p>\n

Support made all the difference. \u201cMy team\u2019s medical staff and physiotherapist created a plan to help me progress each week. I was walking on crutches early and gradually switched to just one as my leg strengthened.\u201d Mobility returned slowly at first, but she steadily regained more natural movement.<\/p>\n

Being sidelined from races was tough. \u201cWatching my teammates compete while I could only cheer from afar was challenging. But I focused on small wins and stayed positive. Every step forward felt like progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her rehab plan was gradual. Early weeks focused on physiotherapy and flexibility, then strength work with blood flow restriction to keep muscle mass during inactivity. Small movements like squats and low-resistance stationary biking helped rebuild her leg. Now she can hike and take short rides outside, slowly building back endurance.<\/p>\n

Family, teammates, and the cycling community were constant sources of support. \u201cFrom my director Callum staying with me through surgery to my parents flying in from Canada, and messages from women across the world tour, I\u2019ve felt so supported. It\u2019s heartwarming to be part of this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Roldan is focused on 2026. \u201cI know it will be challenging to return to my best form and ride safely in a fast peloton. But my motivation has never been higher. I\u2019m taking every step I can toward full recovery and the next start line.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Michael Woods said, cycling is a cruel, cruel sport.Just days after one of the most unforgettable moments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,50584,82],"class_list":["post-84806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-mara-roldan","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}