When the blast off begins in early April for a fourth version of the Life Time Grand Prix, this time on the new Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel, a brand new era of off-road racers will steal a part of the highlight. Cyclists between the ages of 18 to 22 cannot solely gauge their skills in opposition to star-studded fields in a few of the largest US off-road races, however they will additionally declare two spots within the Life Time Grand Prix for 2026.
The preliminary software course of was launched final December for the Life Time Grand Prix U23 Development Program. This week, organisers introduced main modifications, together with a revised choice course of and an extension for ladies’s registrations, now open via February 28.
Rather than announce alternatives for men and women every week later, Life Time, the homeowners and operators of the Grand Prix sequence, will now give candidates “the chance to race their manner into this system”, utilizing factors earned at Sea Otter Gravel and Unbound Gravel.
U23 Program contributors should compete in both the 90-mile Sea Otter Classic Gravel race on April 10 in Monterey, California or Unbound Gravel 100 on May 31 in Emporia, Kansas, then a closing choice for sequence contenders shall be made based mostly on the outcomes from these two races.
After Unbound Gravel, 20 males and 20 ladies shall be chosen for the U23 Program. There is a separate leaderboard all through the season for the U23 Program contestants, with 4 begins required throughout the six races within the Life Time Grand Prix. Points are distributed based mostly on finishes for women and men at every occasion, and the perfect factors from 4 out of six occasions will settle the leaders on the finish of the calendar, Big Sugar Gravel on October 18 in Arkansas.
A caveat to the competitors is that an under-23 rider may also compete for one of many six wildcard spots for this yr’s sequence, which might imply a high end in Unbound 200 slightly than the 100-mile race. If she or he earns and accepts a wildcard spot, then that rider could be faraway from the U23 Program for the remainder of the yr.
According to Life Time, the variety of authorized functions on provide for males had been stuffed by the primary deadline, January 31. Applications stay open for ladies, the website stating, “attributable to not all the ladies’s spots but being stuffed we’re leaving it open to ladies solely via 2/28/25. The males’s roster is full and closed at the moment.”
Juniors
How a few junior rider below the age of 18? Is there a manner for youngsters to realize expertise at massive races and never wait one other yr? The USA Cycling Junior Gravel National Series fills that hole with their new sequence.
Any junior between the ages of 15 to 18 can participate on this new sequence, which incorporates the 60-mile race at Sea Otter Classic Gravel in Monterey and Unbound Gravel 50 in Emporia. A five-race sequence launches quickly, starting March 8 at Valley of Tears in Turkey, Texas.
“Junior registration has been very sturdy on the Valley of Tears Gravel race, the primary cease on the USA Cycling Junior Gravel Race Series for 2025. We are devoted to retaining registration open for juniors till the day earlier than the race,” Christian Fairly, race director for each Valley of Tears and SBT GRVL, informed Cyclingnews.
“We suppose this 49-mile occasion is an ideal approach to kick off the season. Valley of Tears Gravel is our household’s manner of giving again to the Texas biking neighborhood, and particularly the junior neighborhood that all of us had been a part of once we had been youthful.”
The Texas race is principally gravel via the huge terrain that features Caprock Canyons State Park, the medium route utilized by juniors comprising the primary half of the lengthy course utilized by the elite riders the identical day.
SBT GRVL serves because the fourth cease of the sequence, the juniors driving 80 miles, two laps of the brand new course on June 29. The closing occasion shall be on the US Gravel National Championships, September 20, in La Crescent, Minnesota.
