It can and has been done on drop bar MTBs.
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Wildcard is an absolutely fantastic idea. Selection is rigged (kidding, kinda). The fact that there will be a way to earn your way in is incredible.
Someone already mentioned Drew Dillman in this context. I’m not a fan of his personality, but I’ll be sincerely happy for him if he makes it through and takes a spot. He deserves it more than many others who are in but don’t give a shit.
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Agree. Even Lachlan, like I love him but did he have to go ride around Australia in the middle of the GP series and skip multiple events? That kind of ride seems like a perfect off-season ride, doesn’t it? It just kind of says, I don’t care about your stupid series even though I won Unbound and am sitting really well in the standings.
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It was pretty clear after Unbound that he was done with the series. He talked about it on numerous podcasts, saying he would not participate in 2025 and indicated he had low interest for the remainder of the series this year.
I don’t think this will be a huge issue. Given that the races in the LTGP are some of the biggest offroad races in North America, you have a pretty deep pro-field even outside of the GP. I suspect that the top riders likely to earn wildcards are probably already planning to race most of those events as a part of their normal calendar.
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Sea Otter is still pretty much the same punchy venue with lots of climbing, just now it will be on wider roads. Still lots of sand, lose turns, etc. to crash on. Curious how much singletrack ends up on the course.
Crusher got no attention last year. No airtime on their YT channels. They gave no explanation, just “we love Crusher!” or whatever.
Many have tried and they always, always regret it (if they manage to make it to the end) as it’s too abusive / rough on too many sections to make a go of it. Even a hardtail is a suspect choice as there are sections you are going to get dropped (Camp38) or have a high risk of puncture. Go check out Roberge’s instagram from this year for yet another data point. Same argument goes for Lutsen 99er.
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thanks! I’ve really only just seen highlights, in which it mostly looks like 40 miles of grass runway.
2025 Rider List released…Dizzle did not make the cut. 
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Dropped the number of riders and the prize purse went down. 
The prize purse for the Overall series went down, but the total prize pool available actually went up (to $380K) as they redistributed some of the overall prize money to race day purses. All races will have prize purses on the day…something that has never been done for some races (like Unbound).
But non-Lifetime riders can also nab those race-day checks.
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Nice. Didn’t know that. It is a good way to draw in outside talent and definitely needed. Always thought the $500 1st place at Sea Otter was crazy. I won that at local road races 20-30 years ago.
No Sarah Sturm in the Women’s field?
She did not apply this year….said she needed a break and wanted to be able to do other races as well.
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Sea Otter is tomorrow! Weather is looking good. Course is punchy with the longest climbs only hitting about 10 minutes but there’s a lot of them as they will be climbing more than 10k feet by the end of the day.
Who you got on the podium?
My Picks:
- Matt Beers. Has something to prove after Cape Epic.
- Sophia. Defending champ and coming off an impressive performance at Cape Epic.
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Sophia for sure for the gals and I’ll be pulling for Melisa Rollins as well. She kind of came out of nowhere last year with the leadville win and strong finish to last season. She’s pretty new to all this, so will be interesting to see what her trajectory looks like.
For the dudes, I like Matt Beers as well, but I personally wouldn’t count Keegan out. I’d take the field over Keegan, but he’d still be my odds on favorite for the win if I had to pick one. Maybe cape epic was a kink in the armor and signs of struggle or maybe just a bad week. For me, he’s won too many of these GP races to not be considered a favorite.
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Keegan still has to be the 5-star favorite, but with it being a gravel race now and likely more tactical, and the possible lingering issues of his back, I would take the field over him. But if I had to pick one winner, I’d pick him.
Sofia just seems to be on another level right now…I don’t think anyone will come close to her.
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Top men could all include Matt Beers, Keegan, Cole, or Peyson. A few others could be in that mix as well. Unless something is legit wrong with Keegan, he’s too dominant to predict otherwise.
Sofia is the obvious favorite but I don’t really care for her based on a lot of comments she’s made about the other racers. The first lifetime series videos did her no favors.. Would love to see someone like Melisa, Hannah, Alexis, Paige, or a few of the other strong riders take the win this year.
I’m calling it. I don’t think Keegan wins tomorrow or the Grand Prix. Losing two altitude races is gonna sting (Crusher and The Rad). He’ll win Leadville. Unbound is a unpredictable. Schamagon however you spell it is a wild one. Two races in Arkansas is scary for flats. He is the most marked man by far in the field and didn’t look on his usual form at Cape Epic or Valley of Tears. He did win BWR Arizona though.
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