Unstoppable Swenson And Gomez Villafane Claim Victory At The 2024 Life Time Grand Prix Presented By Mazda

Swenson secures third consecutive title, while Gomez Villafane dominates the women’s field, defending her crown in a thrilling finale at the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Mazda

Bentonville, AR (Saturday, October 19): 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. Click HERE for the overall standings.

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.

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