The Life Time Grand Prix adventure race series will return in 2024 with its biggest prize purse yet. Come April, 60 handpicked world-class athletes will compete in a seven-race mixed-terrain race series for a $300,000 reward. New in 2024 will be a separate start for the women's and men's elite fields at all seven events.
Introduced in 2022, the Life Time Grand Prix is a season-long race series in which a cast of handpicked competitors travel throughout the United States to contest the country's toughest gravel and mountain bike endurance events. The racer who stands atop of the final series podium can call themselves the best unpaved racer in the country and take home a big slice of the $300,000 prize purse.
The series kicks off in April at the Sea Otter Classic with a 100-kilometer xc mountain bike race. Other grueling events include the infamous 200-mile Unbound Gravel event, the high altitude Leadville 100 and the 100-mile Big Sugar Gravel race where world champion Kasia Niewiadoma learned that gravel is "insanely hard."
The series’ goal is to increase cycling fandom in the United States, and showcase some of the best and unique off-road events throughout the country. With the extreme distances, challenging terrain, high altitudes, and a variety of racing disciplines to master, those who’ll emerge as the winners will have to be very well-rounded cyclists indeed.
“Preparing for the third season of the Life Time Grand Prix has been super exciting for our team, as we continue to innovate and build on the momentum from our first two years,” says Kimo Seymour, President of Life Time Events. “We’ve all worked hard this past year to grow off-road cycling in North America and we believe 2024 will bring even bigger enthusiasm and fan engagement with the sport.”
This year's series was again won by three-time national mountain bike champion turned endurance cyclist, Keegan Swenson, and Argentinean Olympian, Sofia Gomez Villafañe. Each athlete took home $25,000.
Life Time today announced the cast of 2024, which includes the 2023 winners as well as some band new faces.
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The contestants
(Image credit: Life Time)
After wading through hundreds of applications, event organizers selected 30 men and 30 women to compete in the 2024 race series.
The coming season's cast includes former WorldTour roadies, gravel pros, mountain bike olympians, cyclocross champions and pro triathletes.
As mentioned, 2023 winners Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafañe will return to defend their crown but they'll be met with some new challengers.
On the men's side cyclocross Torbjørn Andre Røed, winner of the Big Sugar Gravel race, will join the challenge. As is Czechian Petr Vakoc, who raced on the WorldTour for Quickstep and Alpecin-Fenix beofre focusing on mountain biking.
On the women's side, the new challengers include American national gravel champion Lauren Stephens, Australian WorldTour roadie Peta Mullens, and multi-time South African National Champion Hayley Preen.
Lachlan Morton, 31, Boulder, Colo., 2023 Garmin UNBOUND Gravel presented by Craft Sportswear 3rd place
Tasman Nankervis, 28, Bendigo, Australia, 2023 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda 17th overall
Jack Odron, 20, Denver, Colo., 2023 Bighorn Gravel 4th place
Logan Owen, 28, Bremerton, Wash., 2023 Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek 5th place
Cole Paton, 25, Durango, Colo., 2023 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda 3rd overall
Torbjørn Andre Røed, 26, Grand Junction, Colo., 2023 Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda winner
Jordan Schleck, 21, Kampala, Uganda, 2023 Gravel Locos Hico 4th place
Nathan Spratt, 28, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2023 Life Time Crusher in the Tushar presented by The Creamery 6th place
Peter Stetina, 36, Santa Rosa, Calif., 8x Grand Tour finisher
Keegan Swenson, 29, Heber City, Utah, 2x Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda overall winner
Kyle Trudeau, 30, Tucson, Ariz., 2023 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda 13th overall
Petr Vakoc, 31, Prague, Czech Republic, 2023 Garmin UNBOUND Gravel presented by Craft Sportswear 2nd place
Alexey Vermeulen, 28, Boulder, Colo., 2023 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda 2nd overall
Alex Wild, 31, San Jose, Calif., 2022 Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL 3rd pla
The 2024 Life Time Grand Prix races:
Athletes will have the option to drop up to two events, entry fees will be covered by Life Time and there will be random doping controls conducted at any round.
April 19: the Fuego XL, a 100K cross-country mountain bike race at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterrey, California.
June 1: the 200-mile race at the infamous Unbound Gravel in Emporia, Kansas.
July 13: Crusher in the Tushar, a 69-mile, hilly gravel race in Beaver, Utah.
August 10: Leadville Trail 100 MTB, a 104-mile endurance mountain bike race at high altitude in Leadville, Colorado.
September 14: Chequamegon, a 40-mile xc mountain bike race in Cable, Wisconsin.
September 28: The Rad Dirt Fest, a 110-mile gravel race in Trinidad, Colorado.
October 14: Big Sugar Gravel, a 100-mile gravel race in Bentonville, Arkansas.
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Cycling Weekly'sNorth American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.
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