In 2022 the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda combined six off-road races from across the US to form a new invitation-only series, culminating with a $250,000 prize purse distributed equally to elite women and men at the final event in October. The competitors were comprised of 60 athletes, a balance of 30 women and 30 men selected from an application process.
Cash prizes were divided equally to the top 10 men and top 10 women, based on the highest points accumulated at five of the six races. All events in the Grand Prix are owned and operated by Life Time, which has a stable of 13 off-road events across the US.
Each of the six events in 2022, three existing gravel races and three mountain bike races - operated individually with their own prize purses. A new Fuego XL 80k cross-country MTB event at Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California opened the series in April. The final event was held October 22 in Bentonville, Arkansas with the second-edition of the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel.
Last year multi-time US mountain bike champion Keegan Swenson won four of the six events to secure the men's overall title, which began in April with a victory over Russell Finsterwald in the Fuego 80K MTB at the Sea Otter Classic. The series runner-up was Alexey Vermeulen, five points ahead of Finsterwald in third.
Canadian Haley Smith held her advantage from the fourth event in the series, Leadville Trail 100 MTB, and secured the women's overall title. Sophia Gomez Villafane was tied overall points with Sarah Sturm in the series, but claimed the second-place prize with her seventh-place Big Sugar finish, two spots better than Sturm.
Series changes in 2023
The Life Time Grand Prix expanded the series in several ways for its sophomore season - a greater number of events and a larger field of competitors.
A wildcard event, the Rad Dirt Fest in Trinidad, Colorado, was added to the six founding off-road events for the 2023 series calendar. The series will again open at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California in April, this time with a longer Fuego XL cross-country mountain bike race, 100km instead of 80km.
The second stop, Unbound Gravel 200 on June 3, is the first of four gravel races in the series, followed on July 8 by the 69-mile Crusher in the Tushar in Utah. There are back-to-back mountain bike events, Leadville Trail 100 MTB in Colorado on August 12 and the 40-mile Chequamegon MTB in Wisconsin on September 16. The final two events are back to gravel, Rad Dirt Fest (110 miles) in Colorado on September 30 and Big Sugar Gravel (100 miles) in Arkansas on October 21.
The prize purse will remain at $250,000, but the standings to decide the top 10 women and men, with equal payouts, will be tallied by points earned from any five of the seven events. The final event in the series, Big Sugar Gravel, is mandatory for all competitors, serving as a tiebreaker if needed. Life Time will also cover entry fees to series events for the selected athletes.
The other major change for 2023 is the expansion of the field from 60 to 70 invited athletes to compete in the second year of the Life Time Grand Prix, 35 pro women and 35 pro men.
Contenders
Among the athletes returning for the 2023 Life Time Grand Prix are last year’s overall winners, Haley Smith for the women and Keegan Swenson for the men.
Seven riders from the pro women’s top 10 return in 2023, five of them having raced professionally in mountain biking. A full complement of the pro men from the top 10 will return, the riders with pro mountain bike backgrounds dominating three of the top four placings last year.
Among the new competitors on the women’s side are 2021 Unbound Gravel 200 champion Lauren De Crescenzo (Cinch Cycling), and cyclocross riders Caroline Mani of France, Crystal Anthony of the US, and Pan-Am champion Raylyn Nuss of the US. New on the men’s side are US elite men's 2021 cyclocross champion Eric Brunner and US men's 2022 cyclocross single-speed champion Kerry Werner as well as ‘cross single-speed runner-up Tobin Ortenblad.
Life Time Grand Prix 2023 schedule
Fuego 100k MTB
The Fuego XL 100k MTB race returns to launch the calendar for the Life Time Grand Prix, now with seven events spread from April to October. The Fuego XL event, April 22, has been extended for 20 additional kilometres of rolling single-track with two laps at Fort Ord National Monument in Monterey, California. It is part of the Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental.
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) won the open men's division last year, while Moriah Wilson (Specialized-The Meteor) won on the women’s side.
Unbound Gravel
Located in the Flint Hills of Kansas since 2006, Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft returns on June 3 as the signature event for the Life Time Grand Prix. The event offers five ride distances, with the grueling 200-mile race 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 in the middle of the US.
While Dutchman Ivar Slik took the honours as the men’s winner at the 200-mile distance, Grand Prix participant Swenson finished second overall, and took the top series points. Sofia Gomez Villafane rode solo for over 80 miles and won the women’s 200-mile race, scoring the points for the series as well.
Crusher in the Tushar
The Life Time Crusher in the Tushar presented by The Creamery is a 69-mile gravel race situated in the Tushar Mountains of Utah, taking place July 8. Last year the course featured a 60/40 gravel-to-tarmac split with 10,400 feet of climbing in arid, high desert terrain.
Swenson took the title for the elite men and extended his Life Time Grand Prix lead, while Canadian Haley Smith took the win and GP points for the elite women.
Leadville Trail 100 MTB
The Stages Cycling Leadville Trail 100 MTB will take place on August 12 and is the second of three mountain bike events in the series. Last year it covered an out-and-back, 104-mile course of rough forest service roads plus double and single track dirt tracks with a total of 13,129 feet of elevation gain. The mass start for women and men in the Rocky Mountains mining town begin at 10,152 feet, making it one of the most challenging mountain bike endurance events on the calendar.
Swenson became a two-time winner of Leadville last year and continued as the men’s leader in the Life Time Grand Prix. Finishing third and fourth were Grand Prix riders Howard Grotts and Alexey Vermeulen, respectively. The top five women in last year’s race were part of the Grand Prix, Hannah Otto (née Finchamp) taking a solo victory. Two-time champion Rose Grant finished second and Haley Smith finished third.
Chequamegon MTB
The final of three mountain bike competitions is the Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek, scheduled for September 16. The 40-mile point-to-point course begins in downtown Hayward in northern Wisconsin and follows parts of the famed American Birkie Cross-country Ski Trail across forest roads and snowmobile trails with short, punchy climbs to the finish line in Cable.
Bradyn Lange won the men’s event and posted his first “win” for the Life Time Grand Prix. Series leader Swenson crashed on a rain-soaked course and finished fourth, while Vermeulen, second in the men’s Grand Prix standings, finished third. Women’s winner Savilia Blunk for women was not part of the series, so top Grand Prix points went to Rose Grant.
Rad Dirt Fest
The newest entry to the Grand Prix is the Life Time Rad Dirt Fest presented by Wahoo, which takes place on September 30 in Trinidad, Colorado, which sits at an elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level for the start. The 110-mile course, nicknamed “Stubborn Delores”, is expected to bring 10,000 feet of elevation gain in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range and the towering Spanish Peaks.
This year’s course, that was added as a seventh event to the Grand Prix, is 50 miles shorter than last year, and provides close to 90% maintained gravel roads.
Big Sugar Gravel
Set in the rugged highlands of the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas and Southern Missouri, Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda was founded by Life Time in 2021. It became the finale of the Life Time Grand Prix in the second edition, the long course providing 104 miles and 7,000 feet of elevation gain across white powder roads.
Last year six women had a chance to win the overall title of the Life Time Grand Prix with top performances in Bentonville, Arkansas, and just five points separating the top three - Smith leading with 113 points, Sarah Sturm with 109 and Sofia Gomez Villafane with 108. Smith secured the overall series title with a 13th place finish, while Villafane switched places, from third to second, with Sturm in the overall. Paige Onweller scored the solo victory at Big Sugar Gravel and finished ninth overall.
Swenson had an 11-point lead in the series over Vermeulen going into Big Sugar, and prevented any upset with a second-place finish. Russell Finsterwald won Big Sugar and moved to third overall in the standings, with Vermeulen retaining second overall.
