Vermeulen wins final race of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda
Gomez Villafane secures her second overall title
Alexey Vermeulen (USA) and Sofia Gomez Villafane (Argentina) made decisive final moves to take home the win today at Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda, with Gomez Villafane securing her second consecutive Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda overall result in the process.
The men’s gravel race was a feast of early breakaways, with small groups of riders splintering ahead of the group of race favourites including defending champion Torbjørn Røed (Norway) and 2022 champion Russell Finsterwald (USA).
At the mile 66 time check Colby Simmons (USA) and Simen Nordahl Svendsen (Norway) were off the front with thirty seconds gap to lone chaser Vermeulen. By mile 80 Vermeulen had bridged the gap and teamed up with Simmons to push back into Arkansas and through the final rolling gravel towards the finish line in Bentonville. Nordahl Svendsen threw down an impressive chase back into the group followed by a tight pack of strong Life Time Grand Prix racers, including Matthew Beers (South Africa), and the US’s Keegan Swenson, Brendan Johnston and Payson McElveen.
However it wasn’t to be, with Vermeulen and Simmons stretching the gap before Vermeulen pressed home his advantage within the final two miles into downtown Bentonville to take a decisive win.
Meanwhile, a combination of early climbs and challenging terrain saw the majority of the women’s race strung out within 20 miles. A strong group including race favourites Sofia Gomez Villafane, and the US’s Alexis Skarda, Paige Onweller and Cecily Decker charged off the front on the return to asphalt at mile 22, with Sarah Lange losing her hard-won spot amongst the leaders after an unfortunate flat.
Ahead of Pineville the chasing group of Lauren De Crescenzo, Whitney Allison, Deanna Maylesand Jenna Rinehard connected with the leaders with about twenty riders heading into the second half of the race head to head and ready to test each other’s form.
Gomez Villafane was a constant presence at the sharp end of the race, breaking clear with Melisa Rollins and Cecily Decker in the final hour of action as the rest of the leading group dropped back. She reasserted her position at the top of the Life Time Grand Prix leaderboard with a dominant final sprint, crossing the finish line 15 seconds ahead of Rollins.
Reaction from the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda:
Men’s winner Alexey Vermeulen said:
I made a mixture of questionable choices today but it somehow worked out. It’s been a turbulent year with a lot going on and I just wanted to go out there and race, I didn’t want to look back all day and that’s kinda what I did.
“I went solo about 43 miles to go, there were two riders up the road and I just focused on riding my race. 43 miles is a long way – I kept telling myself that this is two-and-a-half to three hours so don’t go too hard, and still nearly came apart at the end so I think I paced it well. I wanted to race intelligently today, being in the Grand Prix is a really big honor and exciting, it really culminates. The kind of racing I love is everyone all in, leaving nothing out. I wanted to push as hard as I could on the day and leave nothing out.
Women’s winner Sofia Gomez Villafane said:
It was really, really cold at the start, I think my hands were frozen I could barely shift. A lot of attacks were going on but the groups would slow down and we’d catch up again. I was throwing down what I could, honestly I didn’t know if I had this in me. I just felt amazing considering and pretty pumped. My big goal this season was to win the first race of the season and the last race of the season, as in the last few years I’ve tended to fade and crumble at the end and big sugar has always kind of kicked my butt.
“Once you turn onto Slaughterpen Road there are a couple of pitches and on the first one we dropped Cecily and then there’s one last kicker that brings you back up to the top and I put down a little bit of acceleration and picked up a little bit of a gap and held it to finish!
Michelle Duffy Smith, Senior Marketing Director Events and Retail Marketing, Life Time, said:
We couldn’t have scripted a more dynamic contest than the two elite races that played out today. The terrain and the weather all played their role in delivering emotional results for both the men and women. Witnessing Sofia securing the win alongside her second Life Time Grand Prix title in such style was something special. It was great to see Alexey finishing the season on a high and demonstrating what he’s capable of.
Results
Swenson and Gomez Villafane Win Series at the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix Presented by Mazda
Keegan Swenson (USA) and Sofia Gomez Villafane(Argentina) were today crowned the champions of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda. Both riders delivered a masterclass in consistency and dominated the series from the start, with Swenson taking home four individual race wins and Gomez Villafane securing three across the six races that made up the 2024 series.
Swenson’s victory at last month’s Life Time Rad Dirt Fest saw him secure the crown for the 2024 men’s Life Time Grand Prix, but his fourth-place finish at today’s Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda has secured him a remarkable overall score of 140 and a third consecutive Life Time Grand Prix title. The contest to be named men’s series runner-up was decided by final positioning at the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel, with South Africa’s Matthew Beers (118 points) crossing the line just one second ahead of Payson McElveen (USA, 118 points).
Crossing the line at Life Time Big Sugar Gravel today in first position, Gomez Villafane cemented her position at the top of the Life Time Grand Prix leaderboard with a phenomenal overall score of 138. Rounding off a closely fought battle across the series, Melisa Rollins and fellow American Paige Onweller took the second and third spots on the series podium with final scores of 120 and 119 respectively.
Men’s overall champion Keegan Swenson said: “It was a great season, I can’t complain! Coming into this race without any pressure and having the win already secured was awesome. Third year in a row so I’m very happy. I’ll fill out the application for next year too – I’m really looking forward to it. The calendar for next year looks good, I’m really excited to have Little Sugar in there – a real mountain bike race like that is really cool, and prize money for individual events will really change the racing and make it even more dynamic and exciting for everyone – it’ll be good.”
Women’s overall champion Sofia Gomez Villafane said: “I’m super excited to defend my title from last year. I crossed the line and won it but it was good to improve on my points. 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 in Leadville, but I’m starting to figure out this endurance stuff, and hopefully I’m back next year! 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 all the girls.”
The Life Time Grand Prix will pay out a total prize purse of $300,000, split equally between the top 10 men and top 10 women based on the highest cumulative points of the best four of six races following the conclusion of the final race of the series.
Overall Results
Michelle Duffy Smith, Senior Marketing Director Events and Retail Marketing, Life Time, said:
We couldn’t be happier with how 2024’s Life Time Grand Prix culminated today at the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda. Keegan and Sofia threw down season-long devastating efforts, delivering two well earned titles topped off with a first place for Sofia today. We’re excited to further elevate the Grand Prix in 2025 with a number of updates to the application process, scoring and prize money allocation across individual races, which will drive even more competitive and global racers to take part.
2025 will see Life Time, the nation’s premier healthy lifestyle brand and athletic event producer, offer a record prize purse encompassing the Life Time Grand Prix plus three new total awards for individual races. The total prize money on offer across the events included in the 2025 series will total $380,000, with $200,000 allocated to the fourth edition of the Life Time Grand Prix, plus $180,000 awarded at the six standalone events throughout the season, with each race offering $30,000.
Photos – Life Time
