Biking News 

Specialized Off-Road’s Sofia Gomez Villafane and Matthew Beers claimed the elite women’s and men’s titles at a storm-shortened Big Sugar Gravel race in Bentonville in October. The race serves as the finale of the Life Time Grand Prix series. Villafane also wrapped up the overall Grand Prix title for the third straight year. Cameron Jones was the men’s overall series winner.

Beers instigated an early breakaway alongside Matthew Wilson and Riley Amos before going solo in the closing miles to secure his first win of the 2025 Life Time Grand Prix series. Wilson suffered a mechanical failure in the closing miles, taking him out of contention, while Griffin Easter joined forces with Amos to eventually edge him out on the line for second place.

Keegan Swenson, Cameron Jones, Simon Pellaud and Torbjorn Andre Roed marked each other closely all day, with the overall series being decided by their finishing order, but it was Jones who was victorious, taking the bunch sprint for fifth place.

Meanwhile, in the women’s race, attacks were launched left and right but were ultimately neutralized until the final kilometers, which saw Villafane and Lauren Stephens launch decisive moves to go clear of the group. Lauren De Crescenzo and Melisa Rollins also attempted to follow the two leaders but were caught by the peloton.

Villafane distanced her rival and took the win solo while Stephens held off the chasing peloton for second place. Stella Hobbs brought home the remainder of the bunch, taking third on the line ahead of Alexis Skarda and Courtney Sherwell for fourth and fifth, respectively.

The six-race Grand Prix series will launch its fifth season in 2026 and will once again wrap its season in Arkansas with back-to-back races in Bentonville: Little Sugar MTB and Big Sugar Gravel. The season will feature $590,000 in prize money across the series, with $350,000 dedicated to the overall Life Time Grand Prix podium, increased prize purses to $60,000 at UNBOUND Gravel and the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, and $30,000 prize purses at the remaining events. Additionally, the series will feature a new $2,500 professional finisher compensation and the return of live coverage.