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Cycling News

Sport

Jackie Tyson

Mattia De Marchi, Tsgabu Grmay, Courtney Sherwell, Annabel Fisher debut with Life Time Grand Prix in 2025

Annabel Fisher Courtney Sherwell Keegan Swenson Life Time Grand Prix Grand Prix Lauren Stephens Peter Stetina Lawrence Naesen Payson McElveen United States

Keegan Swenson wins the overall of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix.

The main rosters for the invitation-only 2025 Life Time Grand Prix were revealed today, with an extensive selection of new international challengers making the cut to unseat three-time men's series champion Keegan Swenson and two-time women's winner Sofia Gomez Villafane.

Headliners on the men's side are three-time The Traka 360 winner Mattia De Marchi (Italy) and former WorldTour road pros Lawrence Naesen (Belgium), Tsgabu Grmay (Ethiopia) and Simon Pellaud (Switzerland).

Six female riders will make debuts in the Grand Prix next year, with the lead-off event at a new Sea Otter Classic Gravel race on April 11 in Monterey, California. Among the international riders are reigning Australian gravel champion Courtney Sherwell and British gravel champion Annabel Fisher as well as Oregon Trail Gravel stage winner Axelle Dubau-Prévot (France).

Drawing from hundreds of applicants representing 23 countries, the initial selection for 2025 includes 22 women and 22 men who will compete in the six-race, off-road race series with a season-ending prize purse of $280,000 shared among the top 10 in each division. An additional three women and three men will be added as wildcard athletes following results from Unbound Gravel 200 on May 31, 2025.

Last year 30 elite women and 30 elite men were invited to take part in the series, with the top 10 in each category sharing in a $300,000 prize purse. The entire top 10 from last year's women's final standings return for another year of off-road racing. All three riders from the men's final podium, Swenson, Matthew Beers and Payson McElveen, return in 2025.

Riders not returning for another edition of the series include veterans Peter Stetina, Lachlan Morton, Petr Vakoc, Lance Haidet, and Alex Howes. Also absent this time are Carter Anderson, Sean Fincham, Andrew L'Esperance, Konny Looser, Tasman Nankervis, Jack Odron, Logan Owen, Jordan Schleck, Nathan Spratt and Kyle Trudeau.

Several of these fixtures from past seasons on the Grand Prix, including Stetina, did not submit applications. Stetina said he was looking for new gravel-specific adventures in his "waning years" as a rider, and would still compete at three events on the series calendar.

"The Grand Prix is awesome. It has literally elevated North American cycling to the forefront of a discipline again, and that's amazing," the 37-year-old told Cyclingnews, noting the series was skewing towards mountain bike riders and he preferred to focus on gravel.

"For me, the series doesn't make sense. It's been a really fun process in being one of the names in these first generations of the Grand Prix. If I'm unburdened by chasing a series only, then the door opens to all these other notable gravel races that I haven't gotten to yet, or that are cropping up. There's a lot of cool events out there."

On the women's side absentees from invited riders to start this past season include US gravel national champion Lauren Stephens, Whitney Allison, Ellen Campbell, Anna Hicks, Heather Jackson, Kristen Legan, Sarah Max, Kate McLaughlin, Peta Mullens, Kate McLaughlin, Emily Newsom, Dani Shrosbree, Caroline Troy, Leah van der Linden and Anna Yamauchi.

"Unfortunately, UCI Gravel World Championships changed their date and it now conflicts with the final LTGP event. I hope to be at many of the Life Time events," Stephens told Cyclingnews, saying she did not submit an application based on the conflicts with her expected calendar.

Stephens has been the top US women's finisher at all three editions of the UCI Gravel World Championships including sixth in 2023. Next year's world championships for gravel will be in Nice, France on October 18-19. The Life Time Grand Prix concludes that same weekend in Bentonville, Arkansas with Big Sugar Gravel, a required event for riders contending in the overall standings.

Within the application process, athletes were asked if they would like to be part of a wildcard pool if not selected. These applicants will be considered for the final three spots in each division at the end of May, with their results from Sea Otter Classic Gravel and Unbound Gravel 200 taken into consideration. Additionally, should an athlete within the originally selected 44 athletes drop out of the series between now and Unbound Gravel, his or her spot would be backfilled by a wildcard athlete.

“The fourth season of the Life Time Grand Prix, building on three years of momentum, is set to bring a whole new level of competition. We’re excited to announce the 2025 athlete roster with a mix of new and returning talent across both the men’s and women’s fields," Kimo Seymour, senior vice president of Life Time Events, said.

"We continue to elevate the series’ global profile and increase engagement amongst gravel and mountain bike racing fans both in the US and around the world; as a result, we’re thrilled to share that this year’s cohort of racers is the most international yet.”