More youth, more international: Life Time announces its new roster of athletes for the 2026 Grand Prix

A hand-selected cast of 40 of the world's most talented off-road riders to contest the 2026 Life Time Grand Prix, starting at the Sea Otter Classic in April

The Life Time Grand Prix has announced its 2026 roster, with a cast of 20 men and 20 women hand-selected for the world’s premier endurance off-road series.

The field once again will feature top gravel and mountain bike talent from North America and around the world as the series continues to grow into an institution on the global cycling calendar. While other series have emerged, Life Time remains the biggest fish in the gravel pond.

A big change heading into the 2026 season was both an increase in the overall prize purse, with $590,000 in total winnings up for grabs, and a refined selection process. Before today, five men and five women were already guaranteed a spot in the 2026 roster by virtue of their top five finishes in the 2025 overall.

This includes the returning champions Sofia Gomez Villafañe, a former mountain bike Olympian and three-time Life Time Grand Prix winner, and Cam Jones, the first international winner of the men’s competition. Keegan Swenson will also be returning, with a marathon world championship under his belt, as will Melisa Rollins, who has shown that her potential is only growing in the off-road space.

Additionally, Griffin Hoppin and Ruth Holcomb earned their tickets to the series by winning the U23 series this year, providing a much-needed boost to the series' credentials as a viable platform to develop American talent in true professional, international competitions.

As for the other spots? Here is the breakdown of who made the cut, what that means for the series, and who might be in the mix for the key wildcard places:

Klöser, Migón, and Aguirre bring international talent to the women’s field

On the women’s side, the big new additions are, first and foremost, the past two champions of Unbound Gravel: Rosa Klöser, the 2024 champion, and Karolina Migoń, the 2025 champion.

Both riders are from Europe, which is a significant development for the women, as the female side of the LTGP has typically skewed more toward North American riders than the men's field. This year, with the inclusion of those two Europeans as well as South African Hayley Preen, Frenchwoman Cecile Lejeune, Kiwi Samara Sheppard, and Australian Courtney Sherwell, the competition is suddenly much more global.

If Unbound is anything to go by, this should be a significant boon to the competitive balance of the women’s season-long battle. While Sofia Gomez Villafañe has won the last three Life Time Grand Prix editions, she last won Unbound in 2022, the only year she didn’t win the Grand Prix overall.

That being said, the North American contingent remains strong, with Sarah Sturm returning to the series, along with US national gravel champion Lauren Stephens, after a season away from the competition. Those riders, plus the likes of Cecily Decker, Lauren De Crescenzo, Melisa Rollins, and Gomez Villafañe, should deliver a fiercely competitive 2026 season.

2026 Life Time Grand Prix women’s roster

• Morgan Aguirre – 32, USA
• Lauren De Crescenzo – 35, USA
• Cecily Decker – 27, USA
• Maude Farrell – 34, USA
• Sofía Gómez Villafañe – 31, Argentina
• Stella Hobbs – 32, USA
• Ruth Holcomb – 22, USA
• Rosa Klöser – 29, Germany
• Sarah Lange – 34, USA
• Emma Langley – 30, USA
• Cecile Lejeune – 27, France
• Karolina Migoń – 29, Poland
• Paige Onweller – 36, USA
• Hannah Otto – 30, USA
• Hayley Preen – 27, South Africa
• Melisa Rollins – 30, USA
• Ruby Ryan – 24, USA
• Samara Sheppard – 35, New Zealand
• Courtney Sherwell – 37, Australia
• Alexis Skarda – 36, USA
• Lauren Stephens – 39, USA
• Sarah Sturm – 36, USA

Merit and youth bolster the 2026 men's roster

While the Life Time Grand Prix has had a successful run in its first four seasons, one of the nagging criticisms was it did a poor job of giving young riders the best opportunity to survive. From the outside, the vague selection process and the tendency to favour established names from other disciplines rather than homegrown talent were consistent questions.

In 2026, it seems as if the organisation is making a concerted effort, as the roster seems to be oriented much more toward emerging talent as well as recent gravel and mountain bike results. These moves were made to reinforce the series as a true professional sports league rather than a series that puts selection value on things like social media following and pre-established stature.

The youth additions to the roster are a clear example of this revamped emphasis on merit, as Griffin Hoppin earned his way through this year's tough season-long competition, Kyan Olshove found his way on the podium at a Life Time Grand Prix stop and a top-10 at another one, and Cobe Freeburn has consistently been touted as one of the biggest talents in the gravel pipeline in the United States. All three of those athletes are also under the age of 25.

Additionally, of the international selections, five of the six new riders from overseas are 26 and under. Add to that this season's breakout star Cam Jones, who is only 25, and the international talent is magnitudes younger than in previous years. Once again, this is a huge stride Life Time is making to craft a series that is significantly more professional and global.

• Matthew Beers – 31, South Africa
• Zach Calton – 28, USA
• Cobe Freeburn – 24, USA
• Griffin Hoppin – 22, USA
• Brendan Johnston – 34, Australia
• Cameron Jones – 25, New Zealand
• Andrew L’Esperance – 34, Canada
• Bradyn Lange – 26, USA
• Payson McElveen – 32, USA
• Simen Nordahl Svendsen – 26, Norway
• Kyan Olshove – 23, USA
• Cole Paton – 28, USA
• Simon Pellaud – 33, Switzerland
• Marc Pritzen – 26, South Africa
• Torbjørn Røed – 28, Norway
• Andreas Seewald – 34, Germany
• Felix Stehli – 25, Switzerland
• Anton Stensby – 24, Norway
• Jan Stöckli – 26, Switzerland
• Caleb Swartz – 26, USA
• Keegan Swenson – 31, USA
• Alexey Vermeulen – 31, USA

The battle for the wild cards

The 2026 season will see a return of the wild card process, in which three men and women will be added to the roster after Unbound Gravel based on cumulative results at the first two races of the series.

With the restructuring of the selection process, the biggest name who will presumably be in this bucket is Dylan Johnson. The prominent YouTuber and a top-10 finisher at Unbound in 2024, had terrible luck in 2025, with his season disrupted when he was hit by a truck and seriously injured. While he managed to miss only one race, it no doubt caused a massive disruption in his season. The new selection criteria explicitly state only results from the past year are considered, so that meant Johnson was out of luck, especially with his major early-season goal, Midsouth, disrupted by wildfires.

Nevertheless, he knows what it will take to earn his way into the series in 2026.

Potential men’s wild card contenders:

• Dylan Johnson
• Russell Finsterwald
• Michael Garrison
• Matthew Wilson

The big name missing on the women's roster is Haley Smith. Smith, an Olympian from Canada, is the only other woman besides Sofia Gomez Villafañe to have won the series and she's been a consistent face in the field. However, besides a big win at the Migration Gravel Race, 2025 was a below-par year for the Canadian. Still, it is a surprise to see her not on the roster. It is also another testimony to the depth of the 2026 selections.

With Smith, there is no question she can be in the mix for a wild-card nod. The bigger question will be, does she want to try? The gravel calendar is broad, and after a few seasons in the Grand Prix, some riders, like Peter Stetina and Heather Jackson, have left the series behind for a schedule on their own

 terms.

Potential women’s wild card contenders:

• Haley Smith
• Dani Shrosbree
• Ellen Campbell
• Michaela Thompson