Life Time Grand Prix 2025 overview
The Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda returns for a fourth edition in 2025, combining six US gravel and mountain bike races for an overall payout of $380,000 on offer.
The Life Time Grand Prix will have $200,000 dedicated solely to the top 10 overall men and women in the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix. Prize money will be split evenly between men and women, and awarded to the top 10 based on the highest cumulative points following the conclusion of the sixth and final race of the series. All six events will now offer individual prize money with $30,000 on offer at each stop for the top 5 women and men.
The invitation-only field size for 2025 will be reduced from 60 to 50, this year comprised of 25 women and 25 men competing in a best five out of six off-road events. From an application process, 22 women and 22 men will be selected for the initial series roster on November 7, 2024, with three women’s and three men’s wildcard spots confirmed after Unbound Gravel 200 has concluded on May 31, 2025. The wildcard spots will be selected from the original applicants and competed at the first two events in the series.
Life Time, a healthy lifestyle brand and athletic even producer owns all six events that comprise the 2025 series. The first event will be April 11 at the Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental in Monterey, California, but instead of the Fuego XL MTB race from previous years, a new gravel race will be in the lineup. Life Time Little Sugar MTB is the other new event, held in Bentonville, Arkansas on October 12, with the finale one week later in the same area for Life Time Big Sugar Gravel, which remains a mandatory, tie-breaker event. Gone from the calendar are Crusher in the Tushar and The Rad Dirt Fest.
Athletes score points at each event, with five of six event starts required. If all six events have been contested, the lowest points earned from one of those events can be dropped. Big Sugar Gravel is mandatory for all riders. All entry fees for events are paid by Life Time for these competitors.
The 2023 campaign saw a record $300,000 prize purse being split equally among the top 10 women and men, separate start times at each race, and a revised scoring system. Only three events offered separate prize money last year, with the Chequamegon MTB Festival offering the highest amount of $10,000.
Life Time Grand Prix schedule 2025
Date |
Event |
Location |
Distance |
Women's winner |
Men's winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 11 |
Sea Otter Classic Gravel |
Monterey, California |
90 miles |
Haley Batten (Specialized Factory); top LTGP rider Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized-Off Road) |
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) |
May 31 |
Life Time Unbound Gravel 200 |
Emporia, Kansas |
200 miles |
Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing); top LTGP rider Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) |
Cameron Jones (Scott-Shimano) - secured wildcard with win |
August 9 |
Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB |
Leadville, Colorado |
100 miles |
Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing); top LTGP rider Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) |
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) |
September 13 |
Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival |
Cable, Wisconsin |
40 miles |
Melisa Rollins (Live Racing Collective) |
Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) |
October 12 |
Life Time Little Sugar MTB |
Bentonville, Arkansas |
62 miles |
Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized Off-Road) |
Cameron Jones (Scott-Shimano) |
October 18 |
Life Time Big Sugar Gravel |
Bentonville, Arkansas |
100 miles |
Life Time Grand Prix history
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles-htSQD) and Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) dominated the third year of the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda series and defended the overall titles from a year ago. Swenson won four events out of six completed while Villafañe won three.
For Swenson, he has won all three editions of the off-road collection of races, and for Villafañe it was her second consecutive title. The pair took $30,000 each, which was the top share among the top 10 riders from a $300,000 prize purse.
Canadian Haley Smith (Maxxis Factory Racing) and USA's Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) went into the history books as the first pro champions of the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda series in October 2022.
That first season, Smith pulled ahead in the elite women's rankings after the fourth event in the series, Leadville Trail 100 MTB. Swenson mathematically secured his victory at Chequamegon MTB Festival, the fifth stop in the series. Each rider earned a top prize of $25,000.
In the second season of the series, Swenson swept wins in the first four events to earn a solid hold on the men's standings, which earned him a second title. Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) won three of the first four events outright on the women's side and took the most points at Unbound Gravel 200 among series contenders, and she held the top spot through Big Sugar for her first Grand Prix title.
Pos. |
Elite Women |
Elite Men |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Sofia Gomez Villafañe |
Keegan Swenson |
2 |
Melisa Rollins |
Matthew Beers |
3 |
Paige Onweller |
Payson McElveen |
4 |
Alexis Skarda |
Brendan Johnston |
5 |
Haley Smith |
Cole Paton |
6 |
Cecily Decker |
Russell Finsterwald |
7 |
Erin Huck |
Alex Wild |
8 |
Lauren De Crescenzo |
Torbjørn Andre Røed |
9 |
Hannah Otto |
Peter Stetina |
10 |
Michaela Thompson |
Lachlan Morton |
Pos. |
Elite Women |
Elite Men |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Sofia Gomez Villafañe |
Keegan Swenson |
2 |
Alexis Skarda |
Alexey Vermeulen |
3 |
Haley Smith |
Cole Paton |
4 |
Sarah Sturm |
Russell Finsterwald |
5 |
Lauren De Crescenzo |
Lachlan Morton |
6 |
Jenna Rinehart |
Peter Stetina |
7 |
Paige Onweller |
Brendan Johnston |
8 |
Crystal Anthony |
Alex Howes |
9 |
Hannah Otto |
Howard Grotts |
10 |
Deanna Mayles |
Konny Looser |
Pos. |
Elite Women |
Elite Men |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Haley Smith |
Keegan Swenson |
2 |
Sofia Gomez Villafañe |
Alexey Vermeulen |
3 |
Sarah Sturm |
Russell Finsterwald |
4 |
Rose Grant |
Cole Paton |
5 |
Emily Newsom |
Peter Stetina |
6 |
Alexis Skarda |
Andrew L'Esperance |
7 |
Hannah Otto |
Rob Britton |
8 |
Evelyn Dong |
Adam Roberge |
9 |
Paige Onweller |
Alex Howes |
10 |
Melisa Rollins |
Lance Haidet |
Sea Otter Classic Gravel 2025
New for 2025 was the gravel race at Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental in Monterey, California. This was held on Thursday, April 10 on a 30-plus mile circuit completed three times for the elites. Like the Fuego XL mountain bike event contest before, this gravel race also took in the rolling single-track at Fort Ord National Monument, near the Pacific Ocean in northern California.
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) won the opening men's round once again in 2025, scoring the top LTGP points and begin a fourth season at the top of the Grand Prix leaderboard for elite men. Haley Batten (Specialized Factory) soloed to the victory at the women's event but it was runner-up Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized) who was the first Life Time Grand Prix Series rider over the line.
Unbound Gravel 200 2025
Located in the Flint Hills of Kansas, the Unbound Gravel 200 is the signature event for the Life Time Grand Prix. The demanding 200-mile event is the longest race in the Grand Prix. The course is renowned for sharp rocks, primitive roads and steep pitches in and out of gullies through the Tallgrass Prairie, with a start/finish in Emporia, Kansas. The 2025 route will roll north for a second consecutive year, this time on May 31.
In 2024 Lachlan Morton won the pro men's race at Unbound 200 while Rosa Klöser claimed the pro women's victory, with the first Life Time athlete Paige Onweller in third.
Leadville Trail 100 MTB 2025
The Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB took place on August 9 in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Swenson dominated the race for a fifth consecutive year and finished 2:06 short of his all-time course record from two years ago, this time riding in 5:45:35. Former cross-country MTB World Champion Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) was the one who set a new course record, winning in her debut at Leadville 100. She set a new best time of 6:48:55 to ride solo, 10:21 ahead of defending champion Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective).
The challenging out-and-back, 104-mile course begins at 10,152 feet in elevation and uses rough forest service roads plus double and single track to pack in more than 12,000 feet of elevation gain. It is one of the most challenging, one-day mountain bike endurance events on the calendar.
Chequamegon MTB Festival
The second mountain bike competition in the series is the Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival. The 40-mile point-to-point course across northern Wisconsin began with the traditional start in downtown Hayward and followed parts of the famed Birkie Cross-country Ski Trail across forest roads and snowmobile trails with short, punchy climbs to the finish line in Cable.
Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) and Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) won elite titles on September 13, both going solo across the line.
Life Time Little Sugar MTB
Little Sugar MTB is not a new event, but new to the Grand Prix. The 100km race in northwest Arkansas is known for grinding climbs, tight descents and rough, rocky limestone surfaces. The scenery includes caves, waterfalls and ledges across the Ozark Mountains.
Last year Villafañe and Christopher Blevins won the elite 100km races. While Villafañe had a solo victory, Blevins used a sprint to edge Matt Beers and Swenson.
Big Sugar Gravel
The Life Time Grand Prix culminates for a fourth time at Big Sugar Gravel. The 104-mile course covers rugged terrain in northwest Arkansas and southern Missouri, famous for the chunky white gravel and 7,000 feet of elevation gain. The start/finish is in Bentonville, Arkansas on October 18, a week after Little Sugar in the same area.
Grand Prix riders Brendan Johnston and Lauren De Crescenzo used second-place finishes to grab the highest points among series contenders at the 2024 race.
