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Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz-SRAM) and Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialzed Off-road) dominated one other yr of the Life Time Grand Prix offered by Mazda sequence and defended their general titles.
Each riders opened with victories at Sea Otter Basic’s Fuego XL mountain bike race, the primary of seven scheduled rounds of the off-road assortment of US races. Whereas each faltered on the signature Unbound Gravel 200, not making the highest 10, they remained constant the remainder of the way in which for the highest spots, incomes $30,000 every from the $300,000 prize purse divided equally among the many high 10 riders within the invitation-only discipline.
Swenson received three of the final 4 races, Leadville 100 MTB, Chequmegon MTB Competition, The Rad Grime Fest, whereas Villafañe scored victories at Chequamegon MTB and Large Sugar Gravel. In 2023 they each received Crusher within the Tushar, however that occasion was cancelled because of space wildfires this yr. For the Grand Prix general one of the best 4 scores had been mixed from the six races that did happen.
The ultimate strikes within the general befell at Large Sugar Gravel in Bentonville, Arkansas. Melisa Rollins completed second Saturday at that gravel race and jumped forward of Paige Onweller and Alexis Skarda into second general.
Cecily Decker used her third-place at Large Sugar to make the massive bounce from thirteenth to sixth general. Additionally shifting into the highest 10 to earn prize cash had been Lauren De Crescenzo, going from eleventh to eighth, and Michaela Thompson, altering 14th to tenth. Haley Smith, Erin Huck and Hannah Otto remained within the high 10.
Sarah Sturm and Sarah Lange didn’t honest in addition to they hope at Large Sugar, and their remaining outcomes bumped them out of the highest 109 to eleventh and twelfth, respectively.
“I’m tremendous excited to defend my title from final yr. Three wins and two second locations, this season I’ve simply been actually actually constant,” Villafañe mentioned in a Life Time press launch.
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“I got here out of a little bit of a lull in the summertime feeling like perhaps I wasn’t at my finest in Leadville, however I’m beginning to determine this endurance stuff. Hopefully I’m again subsequent yr! Shout out to all the women on the market who’re actually stepping up the sport, and I’m tremendous proud to be on the market with all the women.”
The Life Time Grand Prix launched three years in the past, and Swenson has been the general champion for males all 3 times. He locked up the three-peat with the victory at The Rad Grime Fest on the finish of September, however put in a powerful displaying at Large Sugar with fifth place.
Matthew Beers and Payson McElveen had been the closest in factors to Swenson and used the ultimate outcomes at Large Sugar to determine who bought the $24,000 runner-up test. Beers completed fourth in Arkansas in a five-rider dash, two spots forward of McElveen, and in flip the South African took second general within the sequence, McElveen going third.
The stability of riders within the males’s high 10 didn’t change names, solely positions for prize cash. Brendan Johnston and Cole Paton rounded out the highest 5, with the second half of the 10-rider podium crammed out by Russell Finserwald, Alex Wild, Torbjørn Røed, Peter Stetina and Lachlan Morton.
Large Sugar Winner Alexey Vermeulen completed two factors behind Morton for eleventh place, and should missed the ultimate payout.
“It was a fantastic season. Coming into this race with none strain and having the win already secured was superior,” Swenson mentioned. “Third yr in a row so I’m very joyful. I’ll fill out the appliance for subsequent yr too.
“The calendar for subsequent yr seems good, I’m actually excited to have Little Sugar in there – an actual mountain bike race like that’s actually cool, and prize cash for particular person occasions will actually change the racing and make it much more dynamic and thrilling for everybody – it’ll be good.”
Organisers for the Life Time Grand Prix have introduced a seven-event schedule and sequence modifications for 2025. The invitation listing shall be diminished from 30 to 25 for elite ladies and elite males, and the prize purse shall be adjusted to $200,000 for the sequence, however add a complete purse of $180,000 for the six particular person occasions. The Rad Grime Fest and Crushar within the Tusher are off the schedule subsequent yr, and Little Sugar MTB has been added, with the sequence going to a finest of 5 races among the many six.
