THE CURTAIN COMES DOWN ON THE 2024 LIFE TIME GRAND PRIX SERIES

The 2024 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda culminated in a stunning style last weekend, bringing the curtain down on six incredible rounds of action.

Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafane emerged as overall champions, with Villafane and Alexey Vermeulen taking top honors in the final race of the series – the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda.

This year’s campaign saw a record $300,000 prize purse being split equally amongst the male and female athletes, separate start times at each race, and a revised scoring system. With riders competing from nine nationalities, the competition also cemented its place as a truly global series, reflecting the growing level of recognition off-road cycling has achieved in North America.

After the bikes were packed up and podium presentations complete, some of the key protagonists gave their thoughts on the season as a whole:

THE 2024 CHAMPIONS:

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Keegan Swenson.

Overall men’s champion – and winner of the Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental, Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik, Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek, and Life Time Rad Dirt Fest, Keegan Swenson, said: “It was a great season, I can’t complain. Coming into Big Sugar without any pressure and having the overall victory already secured once the race had started was awesome. This is my third Life Time Grand Prix win in a row, so I’m very happy. I’ve already filled out my application for next year and I’m really looking forward to it. The calendar for 2025 looks good and I’m very excited to have Little Sugar on there as it’s an awesome mountain bike race. Having prize money for individual events will really change the racing too, and make it even more dynamic and exciting for everyone.”

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Sofia Gomez Villafane

Overall women’s champion – and winner of the Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental, Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek, and Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda – Sofia Gomez Villafane, said: “I’m super excited to defend my title from last year. Three wins and two second places, this season I’ve just been really, really consistent. I came out of a bit of a lull in the summer feeling like maybe I wasn’t at my best at Leadville, but I’m starting to figure out this endurance stuff. Shout out to all the girls out there who are really stepping up the game, and I’m super proud to be out there with such an amazing group of athletes.”

MORE REACTION FROM THE KEY PROTAGONISTS:

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Alexey Vermeulen

Winner of the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda, Alexey Vermeulen, said: “I’m happy with how my season went on the whole. It got off to a good start when I finished second at Sea Otter but I missed UNBOUND due to my brother’s wedding. I then had some bad luck; I got food poisoning at Chequamegon and then flatted at the Rad Dirt Fest, which ended my ambitions of a top-three finish. That kind of sucked but I’ve had a lot of good luck over the last few years so I kept my head high and focused on the last race of the season.

“I’m looking forward to next year’s series, without a doubt. The Life Time Grand Prix is always a major focus for me, and I think the changes for next year are exciting. The calendar will allow us to take a bit more of a break between the big races and also allow us to focus more on each one.”

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Lauren De Crescenzo

Winner of the Life Time Rad Dirt Fest, Lauren De Crescenzo, said: “I’m super stoked with how the end of my season played out. I had a great, great ride at the Rad Dirt Fest and it was also nice to earn a top-five finish at Big Sugar. My middle of the season was pretty shaky; I suffered a couple of flat tires, and a couple of mechanicals, and learning how to take care of my own stuff as a privateer this year has been a challenge but everything’s come together at the end of the year.”

Paige Onweller

Third place overall in the women’s competition, and podium finisher at the Life Time UNBOUND Gravel, Paige Onweller, said: “My season didn’t get off to the best start as I needed ankle surgery. I only came back from that 12 weeks before UNBOUND, but managed to get a third place there [she was the highest Life Time Grand Prix finisher], and that set the tone for the rest of my season. I never give up, always work hard, and that’s meant I’ve been consistent over the second half of the season. I’m proud of myself for always fighting.

“My injury earlier this year gave me a new perspective and gratitude, just to be racing. It’s not always about the win, it’s also about learning, and having fun as a rider. I’m really enjoying the dynamic of the women’s competition and there’s a lot of mutual respect between us, which is awesome to see. I’m excited for the future of our off-road scene; it’s heading in the right direction and we have Life Time to thank for that.”

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Payson McElveen

Third place overall in the men’s competition, Payson McElveen, said: “I’ve wanted a season like this for the last few years and the small changes I made on paper made a really big difference during the races – that was super gratifying. It’s a lot more fun to have a solid season than fighting illness and injuries throughout the series, but that’s also part of the game, and a lot of my buddies haven’t been so lucky this year. I have empathy for them, having gone through that myself in the past, but it’s been nice to have had a solid, consistent year as that enabled me to go into the last round with pretty low pressure.

“I was able to race freely at Big Sugar, which is a fun place to be, and also pretty unusual as an elite athlete.”

Life Time Senior Vice President and President Media & Events, Kimo Seymour, said: “We’re proud of how the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda played out and the series overall has been a success. I want to offer huge congratulations to Keegan and Sofia for defending their overall titles in such stunning style, as well as the host of additional athletes who’ve produced epic rides of their own. I also want to say a special thank you to all those residents and businesses that have provided us with such a warm welcome over the course of the series, as well as our partners, without whom, none of this would be possible.

“The racing might have concluded but the hard work doesn’t stop there – and with the revised race calendar, scoring and prize money allocation already announced – we’re already focused on taking the series to a whole new level in 2025.”

Next year’s competition will see the Life Time Grand Prix offer a record $380,000 total prize purse, with $200,000 allocated to the overall standings, plus $180,000 awarded at the six standalone events throughout the season, with each race offering $30,000.

For more information or to apply to the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix, visit www.lifetimegrandprix.com

Extended highlights from the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda have just gone live on the official Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel which can also be found here.