It's a whole new ball game, as the US saying goes, for the Life Time Grand Prix series as the six-race series opens Thursday in California. A gravel race launches the series for the first time in four years instead of a single-track-dominant mountain bike contest.
There's a new course, a new dedicated start for elite riders and a fresh slate to populate the Grand Prix leaderboard, the men's division monopolised by Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz htSQD) for the past three years. A fourth edition begins in Monterey, California for a share of $200,000 in series prize money on offer for the top 10 pro women and pro men plus $30,000 at each of the six events.
