There can be no doubt of the prestige and rewards Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) and Cameron Jones Scott-Shimano) gathered by winning the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix series. While the battle for the top spots gets much of the attention, reshufflings in the top 10 were underway as the six-event series wrapped up at Big Sugar Gravel on Saturday.
A $200,000 prize purse was at stake – $20,000 for the winner, right down to $4,500 for 10th place – and a guaranteed entry for the top five riders in next year’s invitation-only series, there wasn’t just pride at stake. Out of the top 10? No series podium and no share in the big purse, so the seven-month investments were high.
One of the closest series competitions was for the top four spots in the elite men’s category, with just two points between first and fourth. Three-time winner Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz htSQD) usually entered the final race in a dominant situation, but after flats ruined his race at Little Sugar MTB last weekend, he was now in a perilous position. An 11th-place finish at Big Sugar then sent the three-time series champion down to fourth place overall, as Jones, Simon Pellaud (Tudor) and Torbjørn Andre Røed (Trek Driftless) jumped ahead.
“Today was a tricky and tactical race; I had no choice but to give it all I had, but I knew I was going to be up against it,” said Swenson. “It’s been a great year, but some of my races didn’t go as I wanted; but that’s cycling.”
“Rode well, finished 14th on the day and 6th overall – not the end I dreamed of, but that’s bike racing. Very happy for Matt Beers and Cameron Jones, it ain’t easy to be that far away from home,” he said on social about the South African and New Zealand riders dedicating themselves to US races.
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