It's an entirely different situation, as they say in the US, for the Life Time Grand Prix As the six-race series kicks off on Thursday in California, a gravel event will initiate the competition for the first time in four years, replacing the previous format which heavily favored singletrack mountain biking events.
A new course has been introduced along with a specialized starting point designed exclusively for top-tier cyclists. This presents an opportunity to refresh the Grand Prix leaderboard where the men’s category currently dominates. Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz htSQD) for the last three years. A new fourth edition kicks off in Monterey, California for a portion of $200,000 in series prize funds Available for the top 10 professional women and male athletes, along with $30,000 at every one of the six competitions.
With the introduction of a new gravel race at Sea Otter Classic, the opportunity arises for someone besides Swensen to lead the rankings throughout the event. Naturally, the three-time champion remains the leading favorite; however, his teammate from Cape Epic could also be a contender. Matt Beers (The specialized off-road rider), who secured second place overall last year, aims to move them down one position.
"Keegan and I share a solid bond. Our conversations revolve around everything related to cycling. It’s really neat having such an open relationship with someone at the pinnacle of the sport. Everything is transparent; there’s no deceit involved—we simply maintain honesty," explained Beers to the press, including Cycingnews , during a virtual Life Time press conference before Sea Otter.
In the end, we compete against each other. He usually comes out ahead, which makes it a legitimate contest. Therefore, I have to rely solely on myself to try and catch up with him. This challenge adds excitement for me.
Beers stated that it wasn't just a competition between two riders, and they would "need to be concerned with many participants at this stage."
WorldTour veterans spearheading performances at Grand Prix events encompass Alexey Vermeulen (previously with LottoNL-Jumbo), Lachlan Morton (currently riding for EF Education-EasyPost), and Peter Stetina (former member of Trek-Segafredo). These cyclists all secured spots within the top 11 rankings in this series during the previous year. Notably, many retired Dutch road professionals lead the entries particularly at Unbound Gravel. Although most won’t be present in Monterey, Tom Dumoulin (exclusively from Jumbo-Visma) will make his first appearance in gravel racing at the Sea Otter Classic Gravel before anticipated participation at Unbound Gravel 100.
Swenson mentioned that this year’s Grand Prix competitions might witness increased strategic teamwork, yet in a standard gravel event such as the one anticipated at Sea Otter, the contest will likely boil down to individual competitors going head-to-head rather than teams battling it out.
"Everyone seems to be vying for that single position and striving to become the leader within the team. I believe strategies employed as a unit have greater impact during competitions held outside of Life Time compared to those inside Life Time Races. Perhaps at Unbound, we might observe this phenomenon more prominently due to its significant importance," stated Swenson during the press briefing.
Each passing year becomes more challenging as smaller teams join the competition, followed by some European riders participating. Ultimately, one hopes that these tough competitions ensure victory goes to the most skilled rider regardless of difficulty. I believe the Sea Otter course will be sufficiently demanding so this won’t make much difference.
I am grateful to have Tobin [Ortenblad] as my teammate. Among us, we’re practically the only pair who can genuinely function as a cohesive racing unit. He’s always ready to assist me during races, which is crucial,” stated Swenson regarding his ally from Santa Cruz htSQD. They've collaborated across multiple seasons, with Ortenblad leveraging his familiarity due to growing up just 45 miles northwest of the Fort Ord trails, where he frequently cycles. This local knowledge has been particularly valuable at events like the Sea Otter opening.
This year, the fields have expanded and become more challenging at the Sea Otter Classic opening event, where it hosted a mountain biking competition initially for the first three editions. In the newly introduced Sea Otter Classic Gravel race, 44 selected participants are vying for Grand Prix points—22 in the men’s category and another 22 in the women’s division. Each group aims to secure their spot through both a new wildcard program as well as an under-23 developmental initiative.
As of the latest update, the top-tier men’s category had 136 participants, whereas the women’s division comprised 67 athletes. The start times between these categories were staggered by 20 minutes for the 90-mile race scheduled for Thursday. This participation growth signifies a 62% rise in male competitors compared to last year’s Fuego XL MTB event and a 50% surge among female racers.
The event needs to be somewhat exclusive, or the circumstances must be stringent, so that the competition becomes challenging from the outset. That’s what I anticipate at Sea Otter," Swenson stated, mentioning his expectation of an immediate start. "Each year participants improve, and I believe they’re increasingly ready to take risks and put forth greater effort.
Preparation for the Cape Epic as a gravel race starter
Last month, the pair consisting of Beers and Swenson joined forces for the initial time to participate in the eight-day Cape Epic with the Outride-Toyota-Songa squad. This marked Beers' ninth participation in his hometown event, where he aimed for his fourth general classification championship and his twelfth stage win. Ultimately, they secured only one stage podium finish, occurring on the concluding day.
"I didn’t have the best experience. Honestly, I faced some challenges with my back problems and other issues all week long, so it basically turned into more of an effort just to finish," Swenson stated regarding his third participation in the Cape Epic in March.
Afterward, the focus has been on recuperation and preparing my body to compete once more at Sea Otter. Additionally, I've had to get a gravel bike configured, as I’ve spent considerable time riding a mountain bike for Cape Epic.
In the MTB endurance race, which honors two-rider teams solely as collaborative units, any personal shortcomings—be they technical issues or health problems—are laid bare. Beers plans to give it another shot and mentioned that participating provided him with excellent prep for his inaugural gravel competition this year.
"It was certainly great motivation training for the Cape Epic alongside Keegan. Racing at such high intensities for eight consecutive days provides excellent conditioning. Although I haven’t logged many hours on my gravel bike, the skills transfer well," explained Beers.
I’ve experienced this too with my health; even when you follow all the right steps, sometimes your body fails you. It’s incredibly tough when we’ve put in so much effort, yet our bodies let us down completely. I certainly didn’t want our friendship to suffer because of that.
The competition between them continues at the Sea Otter Classic for gravel events. Swenson enters the race having won the Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona earlier in the season and brings extensive experience from his previous victories in this event over the past three years, despite those being mountain biking competitions.
Swenson said the strength of the field is determined a lot by the course itself. This new course is three loops of 30 miles each, and Swenson said it could all be decided on the final pass of the two-mile gravel Lookout climb, leaving one paved mile to the finish.
I believe the course for this event might resemble the mountain biking race we had before. The final Lookout ascent seems quite alike, which typically marks a pivotal point in our mountain biking competition; hence, I anticipate a comparable scenario unfolding during the gravel racing event. In my view, that uphill section could very well determine who wins or loses the contest.
With the latest updates at the Fort Ord National Monument—a previous U.S. military installation that currently hosts various outdoor events like the Sea Otter Classic festival—an entirely new landscape has emerged. This renovation made it feasible to establish a designated path for gravel biking, utilizing repurposed areas throughout the old facility. Here, sites previously contaminated with unexploded ordnance from weapons practice have been cleaned up, along with the development of low-impact roadways in the vicinity.
Fort Ord continues to undergo constant development, with many of the landmines being cleared out," said Kimo Seymour, president of Life Time Events, speaking to the media regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s efforts to make the area safer. "We have been eagerly awaiting their progress so they can keep opening up parts of Fort Ord, which provides us greater access to new opportunities for riding.
Ideally, this setup will add more dynamism. Additionally, we can schedule the professional cyclists to compete on a distinct day apart from the amateur racers. This way, they’ll have the track exclusively during their event, which also simplifies our coverage logistics from a media perspective.
The previous year saw participants from every age group tackling the MTB course alongside the Grand Prix cyclists, with each group starting just a few minutes apart.
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