Life Time Grand Prix reveal preliminary rosters for 2026 embrace debuts by prime three girls from Gravel Earth Collection – Rosa Klöser, Karolina Migoń, Morgan Aguirre

Nearly all of the sector for the 2026 Life Time Grand Prix was introduced in the present day by organisers Life Time, confirming 44 of the ultimate 50 berths within the invitation-only US assortment of off-road races.

The ladies’s roster consists of seven new riders, together with the highest three finishers from the 2025 Gravel Earth Collection – total winner and former Unbound 200 champion Rosa Klöser of Germany, GES silver medalist Karolina Migoń of Poland and USA’s Morgan Aguirre. After a yr away from the Grand Prix, three-time US gravel champion Lauren Stephens returns to the combo.

Sofía Gómez Villafañe has been a part of the sector all 5 years and can attempt to maintain the general title for a fourth time. One stunning absence from the beginning listing is 2022 Grand Prix champion Haley Smith, who completed fifteenth total this previous yr.

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There are 9 new contestants on the boys’s facet, together with 2024 Gravel Earth Collection winner Simen Nordahl Svendsen of Norway and The Traka 360 runner-up Jan Stöckli of Switzerland and reigning European Mountain Bike Champion Andreas Seewald of Germany.

Newly-crowned males’s champion Cameron Jones of New Zealand returns to battle with three-time champion and marathon mountain bike world champion Keegan Swenson of USA. After three prime 6 finishes out of 4 seasons, Russell Finsterwald was not included as a returning rider for 2026.

From U23 competitions this previous yr, Ruth Holcomb might be a part of the ladies’s discipline and Griffin Hoppin might be a part of the boys’s discipline.

A complete of 25 girls and 25 males will comprise the ultimate discipline, with three wildcard spots crammed in every elite division after qualification is met from Sea Otter Gravel and Unbound Gravel 200. Life Time has the choice so as to add extra wildcard spots if any chosen athlete withdraws earlier than July 1, 2026.

“The 2025 Life Time Grand Prix was one of the crucial aggressive and thrilling seasons we’ve witnessed so far, however 2026 is shaping as much as be even greater. The roster we’ve assembled is ready to take the sequence to a different stage, with an unparalleled depth of expertise,” Michelle Duffy Smith, government director for the sequence and vp of promoting for Life Time, mentioned in a press launch.

“With a file $590,000 prize purse up for grabs, expanded stay protection and extra advantages to assist sequence athletes, we’re proud to see the Life Time Grand Prix entice prime expertise from world wide and proceed to raise the game to a brand new stage.”

Season 5 marks the subsequent chapter of the Life Time Grand Prix marked by a file $350,000 equal-pay prize purse for the highest 10 women and men within the sequence, the highest riders incomes $50,000 every. There’s extra prize cash for particular person races, bringing the whole to $590,000. A brand new skilled finisher compensation supply will reward any athlete past the highest 10 who completes the complete LTGP season (minimal of three finishes) with $2,500.

Past the prize cash, riders within the invitation-only discipline are offered complimentary registration to all six LTGP races, complimentary registration to different Life Time-owned occasions (excluding Leadville Stage Race), and entry to Life Time golf equipment.

The applying course of opened October 27, simply 9 days after the conclusion of the fourth version of the sequence, with winners decided after Massive Sugar Basic in Bentonville, Arkansas. Villafane wrapped up her third title with wins at Little Sugar Gravel and Massive Sugar Basic, each held in Bentonville. Jones started the season amongst wildcard contenders and rose to the boys’s victory with fifth place at Massive Sugar.

Get limitless entry to all of our protection of the 2026 rounds of the Life Time Grand Prix and all of the main gravel races world wide – together with breaking information, interviews and evaluation because the motion unfolds. Discover out extra.

Life Time Grand Prix 2026 preliminary roster

Elite Ladies (age and nation)

Morgan Aguirre, 32, USALauren De Crescenzo, 35, USACecily Decker, 27, USAMaude Farrell, 34, USASofía Gómez Villafañe, 31, ArgentinaStella Hobbs, 32, USARuth Holcomb, 22, USARosa Klöser, 29, GermanySarah Lange, 34, USAEmma Langley, 30, USACecile Lejeune, 27, FranceKarolina Migoń, 29, PolandPaige Onweller, 36, USAHannah Otto, 30, USAHayley Preen, 27, South AfricaMelisa Rollins, 30, USARuby Ryan, 24, USASamara Sheppard, 35, New ZealandCourtney Sherwell, 37, AustraliaAlexis Skarda, 36, USALauren Stephens, 39, USASarah Sturm, 36, USA

Elite Males (age and nation)

Matthew Beers, 31, South AfricaZach Calton, 28, USACobe Freeburn, 24, USAGriffin Hoppin, 22, USABrendan Johnston, 34, AustraliaCameron Jones, 25, New ZealandAndrew L’Esperance, 34, CanadaBradyn Lange, 26, USAPayson McElveen, 32, USASimen Nordahl Svendsen, 26, NorwayKyan Olshove, 23, USACole Paton, 28, USASimon Pellaud, 33, SwitzerlandMarc Pritzen, 26, South AfricaTorbjørn Røed, 28, NorwayAndreas Seewald, 34, GermanyFelix Stehli, 25, SwitzerlandAnton Stensby, 24, NorwayJan Stöckli, 26, SwitzerlandCaleb Swartz, 26, USAKeegan Swenson, 31, USAAlexey Vermeulen, 31, USA