Photo courtesy of Life Time
Vermeulen triumphs at the final race of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda, while Gomez Villafane secures her second overall title.
Bentonville, AR (Saturday, October 19): 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.
Photo courtesy of Life Time
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 Mayles and 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.
Men’s Race Results
1. Alexey Vermeulen 4hr, 50min, 22sec
2. Colby Simmons* +9sec
3. Simen Nordahl Svendsen* +3min 13sec
4. Keegan Swenson +3min 13sec
5. Brendan Johnston +3min 14sec
Women’s Race Results
1. Sofia Gomez Villafane 5hr, 32min, 20sec
2. Melisa Rollins +15sec
3. Cecily Decker +39sec
4. Paige Onweller +1min 16sec
5. Lauren De Crescenzo +1min 34sec
Photo courtesy of Life Time
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.”
Click HERE (men) and HERE (women).
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