Sugar High

Big Sugar’s growth continues as Life Time Grand Prix redefines cycling in America.

Story and Photography By Kai Caddy

Pro cyclist Alexis Skarda was providing the music from the DJ booth as her fellow pros, adorned in neon and all sorts of glowing accouterment, mingled on the dance floor at The Momentary in Bentonville with hundreds of amateur cyclists on a mid-October Saturday night.

It was the second edition of The Gravel Rave, a season-ending party hosted by Life Time to mark the end of the Life Time Grand Prix — the richest off-road cycling series in the U.S.

Just hours earlier, Skarda and her partners on the dance floor were competing in the fourth annual Big Sugar gravel race to determine which athletes would go home with what share of the Grand Prix’s $300,000 prize purse.

Big Sugar was announced in 2019 as Life Time’s newest event. The race was set to debut in 2020, but as with just about everything else that year, it was postponed. In 2021, Big Sugar was finally a reality. There were two courses — 53 and 103 miles — and 766 athletes on the start line. That first year, the finish-line area was a narrow chute with few fans lining barriers — nothing compared to the big crowds and festival atmosphere at the finish these days, but the organizers were thrilled with the turnout for a first-year event and had big plans for the future.

In 2022, the Grand Prix made its debut. Life Time chooses 30 men and 30 women who apply to duke it out for a prize purse split among the top 10 overall finishers.

Being the finale of the Grand Prix, Big Sugar’s production value took a huge leap forward during its second year. What had felt like a grassroots gravel race suddenly seemed like a stage of the Tour de France just one year later. And that progression hasn’t stopped.

This past year’s event saw more than 2,600 riders participate in one of three route options. Riders came from 48 states and 16 countries. For the second year, Life Time hosted a weeklong celebration of off-road cycling, which begins with the Little Sugar MTB race followed by various activities, shake-out rides, panels and an expo leading up to Big Sugar.

In the week leading up to Big Sugar in 2024, Life Time announced details for the 2025 edition of the Grand Prix.

The prize purse next year will total $380,000, but rather than splitting the total among the top 10 riders at the end of the year, each of the six races will have a $30,000 prize purse split between the top five riders at each race. The remaining $200,000 will be split between the overall top 10 riders at the 2025 Gravel Rave.

“We are excited to further elevate the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix with these updates,” Kimo Seymour, president of Life Time Events and Media, said. “While continuing to devote a significant prize allocation to the series itself, we felt the time was right to offer additional prize money at each of the six races comprising the series. This will enable us to attract a competitive, global field of top athletes and to further grow the sport domestically.”

The schedule will look a little different in 2025 as well. Little Sugar is being added to the mix as the fifth race, which means the final two races in the Grand Prix will take place in Bentonville.

The season will begin April 11 at the Sea Otter Classic gravel race, followed by UNBOUND Gravel on May 31. The schedule then shifts to three straight mountain bike races: the Leadville Trail 100 on Aug. 9, Chequamegon on Sept. 13 and Little Sugar on Oct. 12. Big Sugar will wrap things up Oct. 18.

What had felt like a grassroots gravel race suddenly seemed like a stage of the Tour de France.

Also new this year, the Grand Prix will only consist of 25 men and 25 women. Life Time will select 22 riders for each division, with the other three spots to be filled by wild-card athletes.

Applicants for the Grand Prix will have to indicate that they would like to be included in the wild-card pool and will be scored based on their performance in the first two races. After UNBOUND, the top three men and top three women will be added to the Grand Prix.

Back at last year’s Gravel Rave, Seymour told the crowd he was thrilled with what the series has accomplished so far in its three years of existence. He said his goal with the series is to grow the sport, bring in more fans and make it possible for cyclists to earn a living racing in the U.S.

“We’ve already seen immense progress in our goal of bringing more fans and growing the sport of cycling domestically,” he said. “From continually sold-out events to the success of our Life Time Grand Prix Race Highlights recap video series on YouTube, it is clear the appetite for professional and recreational off-road cycling in the U.S. is continuing to grow.”