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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 collection and defended their total titles.
Each riders opened with victories at Sea Otter Traditional’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 best way 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 area.
Swenson received three of the final 4 races, Leadville 100 MTB, Chequmegon MTB Pageant, The Rad Grime Fest, whereas Villafañe scored victories at Chequamegon MTB and Huge Sugar Gravel. In 2023 they each received Crusher within the Tushar, however that occasion was cancelled attributable to space wildfires this yr. For the Grand Prix total one of the best 4 scores have been mixed from the six races that did happen.
The ultimate strikes within the total happened at Huge 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 total.
Cecily Decker used her third-place at Huge Sugar to make the large bounce from thirteenth to sixth total. Additionally shifting into the highest 10 to earn prize cash have 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 Huge Sugar, and their ultimate 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 stated 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 possibly 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 thrice. He locked up the three-peat with the victory at The Rad Grime Fest on the finish of September, however put in a robust exhibiting at Huge Sugar with fifth place.
Matthew Beers and Payson McElveen have been the closest in factors to Swenson and used the ultimate outcomes at Huge Sugar to resolve who acquired the $24,000 runner-up verify. Beers completed fourth in Arkansas in a five-rider dash, two spots forward of McElveen, and in flip the South African took second total within the collection, McElveen going third.
The steadiness 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 stuffed out by Russell Finserwald, Alex Wild, Torbjørn Røed, Peter Stetina and Lachlan Morton.
Huge Sugar Winner Alexey Vermeulen completed two factors behind Morton for eleventh place, and should missed the ultimate payout.
“It was an ideal season. Coming into this race with none stress and having the win already secured was superior,” Swenson stated. “Third yr in a row so I’m very pleased. I’ll fill out the applying 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 collection modifications for 2025. The invitation record might be diminished from 30 to 25 for elite girls and elite males, and the prize purse might be adjusted to $200,000 for the collection, 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 collection going to a finest of 5 races among the many six.
