U23 Program

New in 2025, this new initiative is designed to identify and nurture young talent by providing opportunities to gain invaluable experience and compete alongside top athletes in the nation’s premier off-road cycling series. Open to cyclists aged 18-22.

The program’s top male and female finishers in the overall series will each earn a spot on the highly coveted 2026 Life Time Grand Prix roster.

The new program will require athletes to compete in four out of six events that make up the Life Time Grand Prix series. Athletes will be scored on a separate leaderboard with the best four race results counting towards their overall standing. Two drop races are allowed, and a minimum of four starts are required for eligibility. In the event of a tie, Big Sugar Gravel will serve as tiebreaker.

VIEW STANDINGS

Requirements & Application

Requirements

Meet the age requirements.
- Minimum age: Must be 18 on or before 12/31/2024
- Maximum age: Must not turn 23 before 1/1/26
Complete the U23 Development Program application by 1/31/2025. (NOTE: Applications will remain open for women until May 15, 2025).
- Acceptance will be based on proof of past performance provided by the athlete since U23 athletes will start in the pro/elite corrals at each event.
- Athletes will be announced 2/7/2025.
Register for at least four of six Life Time Grand Prix events.
- Athletes wanting to do Life Time Leadville MTB 100 presented by Kenetik will need to enter the lottery (open 12/1/2024 – 12/15/2024).
- Accepted athletes planning to do Life Time UNBOUND Gravel presented by Shimano will receive a reserved entry spot for the UNBOUND Gravel 100.
Race Life Time Sea Otter Gravel Pro race on Thursday April 10, 2025 and/or Life Time UNBOUND Gravel presented by Shimano 100 on May 31, 2025.
After UNBOUND Gravel, 20 men and 20 women will be selected from the U23 pool to compete in the remainder of the 2025 U23 season. Selection will be based on each athlete’s performances at Sea Otter Gravel and/or UNBOUND Gravel 100, as well as past race performances submitted in the application.
Best 4 out of 6 races will be scored, allowing for 2 drop races, meaning 4 race starts are required.
An athlete can be in the U23 Program and go for a 2025 Wild Card spot. However, if an athlete earns and accepts a Wild Card spot, they will be removed from the U23 program and leaderboard. Any athlete going for a Wild Card spot will need to complete the UNBOUND Gravel 200 and use this race as a drop race for the U23 Program.

Event Schedule

Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel presented by Continental Friday, April 11, 2025 | Monterey, CA
Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 100 presented by Shimano Saturday, May 31, 2025 | Emporia, KS
Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik Saturday, August 9, 2025 | Leadville, CO
Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival Saturday, September 13, 2025 | Chequamegon, WI
Life Time Little Sugar MTB Sunday, October 12, 2025 | Bentonville, AR
Life Time Big Sugar Gravel Saturday, October 18, 2025 | Bentonville, AR

Scoring

Life Time Grand Prix U23 Development athletes will be scored amongst themselves, with a separate leaderboard throughout the season.
Best 4 out of 6 races will be scored, allowing for 2 drop races.
4 starts are required.
In the event of a tie, an athlete’s performance at Life Time Big Sugar Gravel will serve as the tie breaker. Big Sugar is not required, but the tiebreaker will go to the athlete who performs better at Big Sugar. While both a DNS and a DNF are scored 0, a DNF would still beat a DNS in a tiebreaker. For example:
- If two athletes are tied on the final leaderboard and one athlete was a DNS and the other was a DNF at Big Sugar, the tie breaker would then go to the athlete who was a DNF.

U23 scoring is based on placement—1st place earns 1 point, 2nd place earns 2 points, 3rd place earns 3 points, and so on. The athlete with the lowest total score wins.

Scoring applies only to U23 athletes. For example, if a U23 athlete finishes 6th overall but is the first U23 finisher, they will place first and receive 1 point.