Wild Card
The Road to the Roster
The Wild Card offers one final path into the Life Time Grand Prix. After the first two events of the season, six athletes — three men and three women — earn the opportunity to join the field and compete alongside the original 44 athletes.
Wild Card athletes qualify through standout performances at the Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel and Life Time UNBOUND Gravel presented by Shimano, two of the most competitive gravel races in North America. The top performers across these events are selected to enter the series for the final four races of the season, where they will compete for the overall champion title.
HOW TO QUALIFY
REQUIREMENTS
Eligibility
- Athletes must apply for the Life Time Grand Prix
- Athletes must qualify to race in the elite corral
- Athletes must compete in Sea Otter Classic and UNBOUND Gravel
Selection Process
- 6 total spots: 3 men and 3 women
- Selected athletes are announced after Race 2, UNBOUND Gravel
- All athletes will be notified by email following UNBOUND Gravel
After Selection
- After Race 2, UNBOUND Gravel, the leaderboard will be updated: dropped athletes are removed and selected Wild Card athletes are added
- All athletes now compete for the overall champion title
Additional Spots
- Additional Wild Card spots may open if any of the original 22 men or 22 women withdraw
- Life Time will determine these additional spots
QUALIFYING RACES
WILD CARD EVENTS
Wild Card qualification is based on performance across two qualifying events.
HOW IT WORKS
SCORING
- Scoring is placement-based — 1st place earns 1 point, 2nd earns 2 points, 3rd earns 3 points, and so on
- Scoring applies only to Wild Card athletes — overall finish position doesn’t matter, only placement among Wild Card competitors
- The Wild Card leaderboard updates after each qualifying race
- Lowest total score across both events wins
Example
If a Wild Card finisher places 6th overall but is the first Wild Card competitor to finish, they receive 1 point.
Tiebreaker
In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker is determined by combined time across both qualifying events: Sea Otter Classic and UNBOUND Gravel.
Note: While both a DNS and DNF score 0, a DNF beats a DNS in a tiebreaker.