Otto Opens Up 2025
Hannah Otto traveled to the warm weather of the Spanish coastline for the Mediterranean Epic MTB stage race. Otto earned 4th overall and appeared on the podium a few times, she writes about her experience at https://hannahottotraining.com/2025/02/09/mediterranean-epic-2/
Beers Pairs Up
Matt Beers joined his compatriot Johan Van Zyl for the Tankwa Trek MTB Stage Race in South Africa where they finished in 5th place overall.
U23 Development Program Takes Shape
Stay tuned for more information!
Prevot and Drechou Say Bonjour
The French duo (and LTGP rookies) Axelle Dubau-Prevot and Hugo Drechou announce their team “Numero 31” and pick up some press ahead of their arrival at Sea Otter this April.
Early Season Racing means SNOW?!
The Rad winner, Lauren de Crescenzo takes over the lead from Erin Huck, running a difficult section of snow covered trail late in the race, fighting unseasonably warm, gusty winds – holding on to win at Old Man Winter Rally
Everyone Loves New Bike Day
Hannah Otto is one of the LTGP riders switching up their steeds for ‘25. Otto has been sharing her new gear throughout the off-season. Looking fast Hannah!
U23 Program UPDATE
The New U23 Development Program entry window just closed! Keep an eye out for who threw their hat into the ring and will compete for the guaranteed entry into the 2026 Life Time Grand Prix! For more information, learn more here!
South American Gravel
Defending champions Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafañe are putting in the long, off-season training miles exploring her home country of Argentina this winter.
RADL GRVL DLVRS
Tiffany Cromwell edged out on-the-rise Melisa Rollins for the win. Samara Sheppard in third and Courtney Sherwell in 4th. Haley Smith grabbed 10th after her epic bikepacking trip across Northern Tasmania earlier in the month.
Brendan Johnston’s National Champions jersey was on full display, taking his 2nd consecutive win at the new event put on by SBT GRVL over Tasman Nankervis. Andrew L’Esperance was a strong 5th.
Smith and L’Esperance take on Tasmania
In a supreme show of Hemispherical oneuppersonship(sp?), Haley Smith and her partner Andrew L’Esperance bikepacked around Northeast Tasmania as their main preseason training camp. In a series of posts to IG and Strava, they showed off a few of the many reasons why going further afield to take on preseason prep is always going to be the right move.
U23 Program
The New U23 Development Program entry window is closing! Share with any potential U23 riders who may want to learn more about the program!
Gravel Skiing
New LTGP rider Annabel Fisher is spending her “off-season” on skis all over Europe. This wasn’t from a race, but shows that her time on the snow is well spent!
VISION QUEST
The 4th annual ⚡pirit Tour across the Arizona and Mexican wilderness brought Keegan Swenson, Russell Finsterwald, Kerry Werner, Cody Cupp, Ryan Standish and Tobin Ortenblad together on a bikepacking+ route taking them on hard-to-reach gravel roads and trails, even touching the US/Mexican border. Big miles, lots of elevation and plenty of opportunity to get in some serious base.
WOMEN’S MTB NETWORK
Shout out to the Women’s MTB Network for supporting women in all sectors of the bike world and spreading the word about the new U23 Development Program!
Pellaud Wedding
LTGP Rookie Simon Pellaud marries over the weekend in Colombia!
MTB Marathon World Championships
Snowshoe WV played host to the World Championships for the first time and LTGP riders lined up, ready to take on the 65mi course
Women
Coming off of Chequamegon’s sprint finish, it would be top-10’s for both Sofia Gomez Villafañe in 6th, Alexis Skarda with a strong 9th place. Last year’s World Cup winner also in Snowshoe, Hannah Otto, dropped in for 16th with Crystal Anthony just behind. Peta Mullens suffered a DNF along with US Olympic medalist Haley Batten.
Men
Cole Paton sprinted to a top-10 as part of the main chase group, just 4mins from the leaders. Sean Fincham continued his strong end of the season push with 18th, ahead of compatriot Andrew L’Esperance in 24th. Bradyn Lange followed just behind in 26th. South African Matt Beers rolled to 30th, Zach Calton in 31st and Alex Wild, a close second in Chequamegon finished 35th, Brendan Johnston in 38th.
Marin High Five FKT
Pete Stetina laid down an FKT challenge in his Northern California backyard. A new route that includes the historic Mt. Tam, the birthplace of MTB and gravel riding – maybe you’re up to the task?
Lachlan’s Lap of Australia
Lachlan Morton is gearing up for his biggest adventure to date; 14,200 kilometers with 44,000 meters of elevation around Australia. Follow along and donate to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
19 days into his record-breaking ride, averaging almost 600km per day, is ahead of the record and past the ½ way point. Follow along here
PAYSON’S POV
Check out the action from the Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek from the POV of eventual 4th place, Payson McElveen!
Gravel Worlds
Stephens and Nordhal Svendsen win in Nebraska
Lauren Stephens won ahead of Traka360 winner Karolina Migon and Emily Newsom. Simen Nordhal Svendsen takes the victory ahead of Innokenty Zavyalov, Adam Roberge, Pete Stetina, and Ethan Overson, his first on US soil. The fast, 150mi course wrapped it’s way around Lincoln and was broadcast live, for the first time.
Pro Women’s Top 10
1. Lauren Stephens, 7:57:46
2. Karolina Migon, 7:58:08
3. Emily Newsom, 7:59:12
4. Crystal Anthony, 8:15:57
5. Emma Grant, 8:16:07
6. Marisa Boaz, 8:17:31
7. Justine Barrow, 8:17:31
8. Isabel King, 8:19:18
9. Whitney Allison, 8:29:33
10. Leah Van der Linden, 8:41:31
Pro Men’s Top 10
1. Simen Nordahl Svendsen, 6:48:46
2. Innokenty Zavyalov, 6:48:48
3. Adam Roberge, 6:49:24
4. Peter Stetina, 6:50:06
5. Ethan Overson, 6:50:22
6. Chase Wark, 6:52:15
7. Daxton Mock, 6:55:14
8. Trevor August, 7:01:55
9. Russell Finsterwald, 7:03:53
10. Andrew Dillman, 7:03:54
Leadville Trail 100 MTB
Winner Melisa Rollins joins The Adventure Stache
ICYMI The Life Time Grand Prix presented by Kenetik Highlights Show
LTGP RACERS PREPARE FOR LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 MTB with LEADVILLE STAGE RACE
The Leadville Stage Race featured LTGP riders scouting the upcoming Leadville Trail 100 MTB course along with 350 new friends. The stage race divides the 100 course into 3 sections, fully supported for fun point-to-point days and wrapping with catered meals and awards each night.
The women’s race was a nail-biter leading into the final stage. Ellen Campbell took stage 1 in a tight finish, just 8 seconds ahead of a charging Sofia Waite. Melisa Rollins and Deanna Mayles followed a just over a minute later.
Stage 2 turned that order upside down as Mayles held off a resurgent Rollins after cresting Columbine with a hard-fought gap. The DH QOM fell under the combined pressure. Just 19 secs separated those two at the finish with Campbell crossing just 30 secs later.
Stage 3 would blow up the status quo and reward Rollins with a lifetime of Leadville race course practice as she dominated the stage, climbing clear early into the Powerline climb and building on her lead all the way thru to the finish, taking the overall win by more than 7 minutes ahead of Sofia Waite, with Campbell and Mayles following close behind.
For the men, McElveen came out swinging with a win on stage 1, 2mins ahead of young Jack Odron. These two would separate themselves from the field each day, eventually taking 1-2 in the overall, well-ahead of 3rd placed Kevin Druis-Merenda. On Stage 2 and featuring the infamous Columbine Mine climb as its focus, Odron attacked McElveen, cresting the summit with 30seconds in hand. The hardtail might have been an advantage on the way up, but on the long descent and return to the finish, the full-suspension rig of McElveen was able to gobble up time all the way home.
Stage 3 was a clear victory for McElveen with an early attack on Powerline that held across the flats and the return to Leadville.
Alex Wild wins Tahoe Trail, Hicks second
Wild complete two laps of the 50km loop in commanding fashion ahead of Griffin Hoppin and Cassius Anderson.
In the women’s race, Anna Hicks crossed the line in 2nd behind Chelsea Bolton. With Leadville Trail 100 just around the corner, both Wild and Hicks are prepping for big rides and a chance to move up in the LTGP standings.
Decker Wins The Rift! Van der Linden 8th
Cecily Decker wins in a sprint finish with Traka 360 winner, Karo Migon. The 200km course required over 7hrs through lava fields and stream crossings. The biggest win of Decker’s career thus far, this will be one to remember.
Leah Van Der Linden cracked the top-10 in a very strong field, coming home in 8th place.
FoCo Fondo
Fort Collins hosted their annual 118mi GF and LTGP riders Lance Haidet and Kyle Trudeau finished 2nd, 3rd.
More Crusher Craziness
In a vacuum, you never know what will fill the void. In this case, Cole Paton and Howard Grotts engaged in a little KOM battle on a classic Durango segment. Paton capturing the KOM to kick off the fight, only to inspire a response from Grotts. Ouch.
Columbine is Calling
Kate Cross took the Crusher break as a chance to work on her high-altitude climbing, capturing 4th on the hotly contested Columbine Upper segment.
Keegan and Sofia at Downieville Classic
With the cancellation of Crusher in the Tushar, the dynamic duo of Gomez-Villafañe and Swenson took a trip up to Northern California for the Downieville Classic, a two-day event with a 2+ hour XC on Saturday and DH on Sunday, coming away with the wins in both and the overall!
NED GRAVEL
De Crescenzo and Lange go 1-2 in the Women’s, Top-step for Morton in the Ultra. The high-altitude of Nederland, Colorado was a solid proxy for Crusher in the Tushar. In the women’s race, LDC beat out fellow sea-level native Sarah Lange to win the Tungsten course. Ellen Campbell, Kate Cross, Erin Huck and Kristen Legan all made the top-10.
On the men’s side, Finn Gullickson finished in 3rd, behind Eric Brunner, US CX National Champion and Andrew Lydic. Nederland resident Alex Howes in 7th.
MCELVEEN RELEASES FOOTAGE FROM UNBOUND GRAVEL
Take a first person look into the chase group at this year’s UNBOUND Gravel from the perspective of LTGP veteran, Payson McElveen.
SHROSBREE/JOHNSON MAKE MoST Of CANCELLED CRUSHER
When the next race on the calendar gets cancelled, start testing tires! Danni Shrobree and Dylan Johnson teamed up for a blindfolded tire testing challenge.
Otto podiums at Megeve MTB Marathon World Cup
Hannah Otto, currently sitting in 2nd place in the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda, fittingly captured 2nd place after nearly 7hrs of tough MTB’ing in the French Alps. No stranger to the podium in the Marathon World Cup Series after her win last year at Snowshoe, Otto remains on a roll after strong finishes at the Sea Otter Classic and UNBOUND, 3rd and 5th place respectively. With Crusher in the Tushar and Leadville coming soon, she’s positioned herself well in this years overall battle.
Run or Ride, Jackson does it all!
Heather Jackson (currently 12th overall) traded stressing over tire choices for running shoes but keeps endurance event nutrition top of mind as she powered to 7th at Western States 100 in a time of 17hrs, 16mins and 42 seconds. Widely regarded as one of the most versatile athletes in the endurance run and cycling worlds, she continues to amaze, following up a win at Javelina Jundred last fall to a front pack sprint of 9 women at UNBOUND Gravel barely a month ago. Jackson is truly charting her own course each event she lines up for 👏
Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, Gravel Earth Series
Thompson wins stage 2, Shrosbree & Stetina 5th Overall
One of our youngest LTGP rider, Michaela Thompson (currently 23rd overall in LTGP) picked up podium spots throughout the week alongside high-profile international riders like Geerike Scheurers, 2nd at UNBOUND Gravel, Axelle Dubau-Prevot and Danni Shrosbree (currently 15th overall in LTGP). Schrosbree finished 6th on the final stage and 5th overall.
Pete Stetina (currently 12th overall in LTGP) also found the podium on multiple stages in close finishes, and finished off with a strong second on stage 5 before landing in 5th place overall.
Sturm’s dispatches from the Migration Race share what makes East Africa beautiful and the terrain so difficult, from the top step of the podium
Sarah Sturm won the Migration Race, a four-day gravel stage race, part of the Gravel Earth Series in commanding fashion. After a slow start to the race and skipping the Safari Gravel event just preceding, she won stage 3 and came away with the GC victory and the overall lead in the series.
De Crescenzo wins BWR North Carolina, Johnson 5th
Solo victory for LDC with Hayley Preen finishing a strong second. Dylan Johnson has a very nice ride while taking the final spot on the podium in his home state.
Decker wins Big Horn Gravel, Cross in 3rd
Cecily Decker enjoyed a champagne shower with a strong ride to win over US Gravel National Champion Lauren Stephens and fellow LTGP competitor, Kate Cross. Stephens had originally been accepted into the Grand Prix but is no longer competing in the series.