Matthew Beers, Annabel Fisher, Melisa Rollins, Keegan Swenson, and Kimo Seymour all speak ahead of the Series opener.
Monterey, California, (Wednesday, April 2nd): Ahead of the Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel presented by Continental on Thursday, April 10th, star riders Matthew Beers, Annabel Fisher, Melisa Rollins and Keegan Swenson, joined by Life Time’s Kimo Seymour have all shared their thoughts:
Keegan Swenson, the defending champion said: “I started my season at Cape Epic last month, I had a few back problems, but finished strongly so now I’ve been focusing on my preparation and bike set-up for the Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel. I think the terrain of this year’s race is similar to the Fuego XL in the past, the final lookout climb is somewhat the same, which has always been the decisive moment of the Fuego XL. I expect it’ll be a little bit more tactical and faster than last year but I think it will race a similar way.
I’m looking forward to returning to the Life Time Grand Prix to defend my title, the Series has changed the gravel landscape in the US since it started, so it’ll be another interesting year ahead.”
Melisa Rollins who came second overall in the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix said: “My preparation for this season hasn’t been the best so far as I broke both of my wrists racing in Australia last month. I haven’t dealt with this type of setback before, so it has been one of the biggest challenges as an athlete. I’ve made some set-up changes and have been able to continue to train, so I feel ready to start the season. Sofía (Gómez Villafañe) started her season really strongly, and she races very well at Sea Otter so I think she’ll be one to watch next week. I’m expecting the race to play out in a similar way to the Fuego XL, so it will be really important to play my cards right on the final climb.”
Matthew Beers who also came second overall in the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix said: “We’ve just come out of summer here in South Africa so I’ve been able to get a lot of training done. Riding Cape Epic last month with Keegan was great motivation and it always gives you really good racing legs doing eight days of super high intensity I think the new course will be really fun, and the three-lap format is cool. As the course is quite short the racing will be full gas from the start but I think my preparation will mean I’m set up well for a hard day out.”
Annabel Fisher who is making a Series debut said: “I’ve had five months off the bike as I’m a professional skier in the winter. I started riding again last week and came second in the UCI Gravel World Series at the weekend so I feel confident that I have some racing fitness. I just need to get used to being on a bike again. My debut in the Life Time Grand Prix is going to be a bit of a shock to the system, but I’m really excited to do it. Physically, I’m ready, but I’m going in at the top of the sport with Life Time and haven’t raced at Sea Otter before, so it’ll be a fun learning curve but I’m ready for the challenge.”
Kimo Seymour, President of Life Time Events said: “We’ve been working behind the scenes on our new Wild Card and U23 Development programs for a few years now. We have had a number of riders each year that are just on the bubble of selection, so we decided to hold six spots back (three men, three women) this year to give the athletes a chance to come out and prove that they’re in shape, fit, and can be competitive for a chance for the final Wild Card spots. After feedback that we weren’t doing enough to invest in up-and-coming riders, we’ve implemented the new U23 development program for 2025 to give young athletes some extra motivation and a chance to showcase their talent.
With six Life Time Grand Prix events this year, we wanted it to be 50/50 split between gravel and MTB races. The Ford Ord area at Sea Otter is constantly under development so this year it meant we were able to piece together enough of the local off-road sectors to switch the season opener to the gravel race. We wanted to mix things up and try something new and fresh this year and think it’ll make it a pretty dynamic race.
The Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel presented by Continental is the Series opener of the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix. New for this year, the athletes will take on three 30-mile laps traversing the Ford Ord National Monument. Each lap the riders will tackle 3,500 feet of elevation before finally returning to the Laguna Seca Raceway, where the winners of the first Life Time Grand Prix race of the year will be crowned.
Extended highlights will be available within 48 hours of the race finishing on the official Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel. Extended highlights from last year’s Series are available to watch now.
The calendar for the 2025 Series is as follows:
Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel presented by Continental – Thursday, April 10, 2025
Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 200 presented by Shimano – Saturday, May 31, 2025
Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik – Saturday, August 9, 2025
Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival – Saturday, September 13, 2025
Life Time Little Sugar MTB – Sunday, October 12, 2025
Life Time Big Sugar Gravel – Saturday, October 18, 2025
To learn more about the 2025 Series, visit www.lifetimegrandprix.com and follow along on YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook.
| Life Time Grand Prix PR Contact lifetimecycling@shiftactivemedia.com |
| About Life Time Life Time (NYSE: LTH) empowers people to live healthy, happy lives through its portfolio of more than 175 athletic country clubs across the United States and Canada, complimentary, comprehensive healthy way of life app and nearly 30 of the most iconic athletic events in the country. The health and wellness pioneer uniquely serves people 90 days to 90+ years old through its healthy living, healthy aging, healthy entertainment communities and ecosystem, along with a range of healthy way of life programs and information, and trusted LTH nutritional supplements and products. Life Time was recently certified as a Great Place to Work®, reinforcing its commitment to fostering an exceptional workplace culture on behalf of more than 42,000 dedicated team members. About the Life Time Grand Prix The Life Time Grand Prix is owned and produced by premier leisure brand, Life Time. It is among 30 iconic athletic events owned, produced and operated by the Company, including the Chicago Half Marathon, UNBOUND Gravel, and the Leadville Race Series. To learn more about Life Time athletic events, click HERE. |
