'I'm not sure what’s next' - Mara Roldan suffers setback to recovery from broken femur

Mara Roldan (Picnic-PostNL) has suffered a setback to her recovery from injury following a heavy crash at the Tour of Britain Women in June.

On the third stage of the Women's WorldTour race, Roldan fell off her bike in treacherous conditions as part of a crash that took down more than a dozen riders. The 21-year-old required surgery after breaking her femur, having taken the biggest victory of her career the day before having won the previous stage.

After making steady progress on the way back to full fitness over the months following the fall, the Candian posted on Instagram that she is once again off the bike due to hip pain and nerve compression which she attributes to introducing running into her off-season training.

“A few weeks ago, I attempted to run for the first time,” Roldan said on Instagram.

“What felt like mild inflammation at first slowly developed into constant jolts of pain in my hip, along with nerve compression and tingling down my leg whenever I walked or tried to cycle for longer periods.”

“It’s been an incredibly frustrating and confusing process, and mentally, one of the hardest parts of this recovery yet. Before this setback, I finally felt like I was getting somewhere, slowly feeling like myself again, training with goals and excitement for the season ahead.”

Having taken three weeks of rest, the pain has persisted and the root of the problem remains undiscovered. Roldan is now in the Netherlands to undergo further tests.

2025 had been Roldan’s best season yet. Having joined the WorldTour with Picnic-PostNL, signing a contract until the end of 2027 after transferring from American continental team Cynisca Cycling at the start of the year, Roldan impressed with 10th at the Amstel Gold Race and had a solid outing at the Vuelta a España Feminina in May ahead of the Tour of Britain Women.

She attacked solo on the second stage finishing in Saltburn-by-the-Sea to take her first WorldTour victory, but was unable to avoid the crash the following day which put an end to her season.

“I’m not sure what’s next or how long it’ll take before I can train, let alone race, again,” she said, hoping that the tests and scans can shed more light on the situation. “[I hope to] finally understand what’s going on and how to advance from here.”