The 2025 Life Time Grand Prix comes to a close at the Big Sugar race in Bentonville, Arkansas, on October 18, and fans worldwide can tune in to watch the competition live and free of charge.
Coverage will be hosted on the official Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel and Life Time app, beginning at 7:10 a.m. CDT.
The broadcast, presented by Orange Seal, will feature uninterrupted coverage of the men’s and women’s elite races and post-race interviews. A finish line camera that will remain rolling through the 12-hour mark, ensuring every rider, professional and amateur alike, gets their moment on screen.
Now in its fourth year, the Life Time Grand Prix is the most prestigious race series in America and focuses completely on off-road riding. The series features six of the most challenging gravel and mountain bike events across the country, contested by 50 hand-picked contestants vying for the overall series title and a $200,000 prize purse.
There are two events remaining in the 2025 series and both of them will take place in Bentonville, Arkansas, mid-October. There’s the Little Sugar 100-kilometre mountain bike race on October 12, followed by the 100-mile Big Sugar gravel race less than a week later.
If we’re being honest, the men’s overall title chase had grown a little stale, with world mountain bike marathon champion Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz – SRAM htSQD) dominating the past three seasons. Not so this year. Heading into the final week of racing, the margins are razor-thin. Swiss rider Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) sits just one point behind Swenson, with Norwegian Torbjørn Andre Røed (Trek Driftless) another point back. With 30 points still on offer for each of the remaining race wins, the overall series title is wide open.
On the women’s side, the contest is just as tight After four rounds of racing, defending champion Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized Off-Road) holds the slimmest of leads, just two points clear of Cecily Decker (PAS Racing). Hot on their heels is Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective), still very much in contention.
An updated Big Sugar course
The season finale will play out on an updated course. Big Sugar is notorious for its chunky gravel and off-camber descents, with the Ozark Mountains providing a spectacular backdrop. The new route stays true to that reputation but comes in slightly shorter at 99.6 miles, while adding another 827 feet of rugged climbing for a total of roughly 6,200 feet of elevation gain.
A new aid station at Rockford Grange, located at mile 74, will funnel riders through a custom-cut trail on the grounds of a former Olympic training facility.
Spectators at both Rockford Grange and the start/finish will be able to follow the action on big screens broadcasting the live stream.
And riders looking for every edge can familiarise themselves with the updated course virtually on Rouvy.
