Life Time Grand Prix Dramatically Boosts Prize Money for 2027

Life Time has announced a big jump in the prize purse for the 2027 Life Time Grand Prix – upping the total to US$800,000. Half that money will be handed out as prize money at the seven events, with the rest handed out for the top finishers in the series. That’s a 36% increase over the 2026 prize purse.

For Life Time the move will strengthen its position as the premier professional off-road race series. The sport’s top performers will have a lot more motivation to pursue and commit to the Life Time Grand Prix Series events, possibly forgoing other races to ensure they’re in a position to maximize their standing in the Grand Prix.

“If we want professional off-road cycling to grow, we have to get serious about how athletes make a living,” says Michelle Duffy, Co-Director of the Life Time Grand Prix. “We all know the traditional sponsorship model leaves a lot of talented riders without the financial support they need. We’ve always believed the Life Time Grand Prix can be part of changing that. As the Series becomes more successful, the athletes should share in that success. By putting more money into every race and spreading those dollars deeper into the field, we’re creating more opportunities for more riders, not just the handful at the very top. That’s how we start building a stronger, more sustainable future for the sport.”

2027 Life Time Grand Prix Schedule

Grand Prix Prize Money

The overall purse for the Life Time Grand Prix will be US$400,000 in 2027, up from this year’s $350,000. As with this year, the money will be equally distributed to the top-10 men and women. Athletes finishing 11^th through 25^th will also earn a $2,500 finisher bonus. Here’s the breakdown for the top-10 podium prize money allocations:

1st – $40,000
2nd – $30,000
3rd – $24,000
4th – $21,000
5th – $19,000
6th – $17,000
7th – $15,000
8th – $13,000
9th – $11,000
10th – $10,000

More Event Prize Money

There will be $400,000 in prize money for the top-10 finishers in each of the seven races in the Grand Prix calendar – up from the top-five awards handed out this year. There will be three series events offering $80,000 in prize money – UNBOUND Gravel, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB and Life Time Big Sugar Gravel. The Unbound and Leadville prize money increases from $60,000 this year, while the Big Sugar event’s purse increases from $30,000. There are also sizeable increases in the prize pools for the other events in the series – Life Time Sea Otter Classic, Chequamegon MTB Festival and Little Sugar MTB will offer $40,000 in prize money (up a third from this year), while the Red Dirt Fest sees its prize purse grow from $2,500 this year to $40,000 in 2027.  Here’s how the prize money will be distributed at the individual races:

UNBOUND Gravel, Leadville Trail 100 MTB and Life Time Big Sugar Classic (top 10): 1st $10,000 · 2nd $7,000 · 3rd $6,000 · 4th $5,000 · 5th $4,000 · 6th $3,000 · 7th $2,000 · 8th $1,500 · 9th $1,000 · 10th $500

Sea Otter Classic, Chequamegon MTB Festival, The Rad Dirt Fest and Little Sugar MTB (top 10):1st $5,000 · 2nd $3,500 · 3rd $3,000 · 4th $2,500 · 5th $2,000 · 6th $1,500 · 7th $1,000 · 8th $750 · 9th $500 · 10th $250

All this follows from a recent update to the Life Time Grand Prix professional category, making qualification for the pro category “more performance-driven.” Athletes will now have to meet specific qualifying criteria to compete as a pro, a move Duffy says “helps ensure riders competing at the front have demonstrated the experience and ability to race safely at that level, while providing a transparent pathway for athletes to earn their place.”

Neutralizing the Competition

Today’s announcement gives athletes a lot to think about when it comes to their season planning next year. The huge prize-money hike, coupled with the added depth in support, will no-doubt motivate athletes to focus on the Life Time Grand Prix races. That comes at a time when other events have started to increase their visibility, too. 

This year’s UCI Gravel World Championships, held in Australia, conflicted with the Life Time Little Sugar MTB race, which meant that eventual Life Time Grand Prix champions Keegan Swenson and Sofía Gómez Villafañe both missed that event. Missing the race didn’t really affect Villafañe’s quest for the title, but a flat tire during the final race of the series (Big Sugar) made things very close for Swenson, who would take the title by a single point.

In addition to the world championships, the UCI Gravel World Series is the cycling federation’s official qualifying series for the UCI Gravel World Championships for both age-group and elite riders. Those events should also be seen as competition for Life Time as they offer an avenue for athletes to compete at the worlds. The UCI Gravel World Series has grown dramatically since its inception in 2022 – from 10 events that first year to 45 races in 2026. All of that said, traditionally that series hasn’t offered much on the prize money front, with the main appeal being qualification for the UCI worlds.

The lure of a UCI world title is likely to always be a factor, but the Gravel World Championships aren’t the only events that might have attracted some of the same big-name pros the Life Time Grand Prix is looking to have racing their series.

Earlier this month The Traka announced that its flagship brand would be expanding, with The Traka World Series replacing what had previously been known as the Gravel Earth Series. 

The original Traka event took place in Girona in 2019, and its organizers created the Gravel Earth Series in 2022 – that series had 11 events in six different countries last year. The new series shrinks slightly and will include seven races that will reportedly be broadcast live. (Sound familiar?) The series will begin with Santa Vall (also in Girona, Spain) on February 5-7,  followed by GravelDesert in Monegros, Spain, The Traka on May 1, Iowa’s CORE4 race on August 20-21, The River in Bouillon, Belgium on September 11 and a new event called The Last Dance (the location is still to be announced) in October. 

One popular event previously part of the Gravel Earth Series that won’t be included in The Traka series is The Rift, a race in Iceland that traditionally attracts a strong field. Set for July 23-24, it shouldn’t be affected by either the Life Time or Traka series since neither has any races offered in July.

Another major event that shouldn’t have its pro field affected by the Life Time Grand Prix is Gravel Worlds, held in August in Lincoln, Nebraska, which offered a whopping US$150,000 prize purse last year. That race does conflict with the UCI Gravel World Championships in Châtel, France, though.

The recent flurry of series and prize-money announcements could affect a standout series on the gravel front – the Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) series. One of the major events in that series, BWR California, takes place the same weekend as The Traka, so presumably it will provide a North American alternative to heading to Spain for some elite riders. SBT GRVL, set for the end of June, appears to have an exclusive spot on the calendar at this point, so it shouldn’t be affected by the various series’ recent announcements.

Gravel Boom

The popularity of the sport is demonstrated through bike sales and the build we’re reporting on the professional scene. Participation at major gravel races by both pros and age-group athletes has also been steadily growing, and Life Time wants to make sure it is still at the forefront of that trend. The company has obviously seen the advantages of having strong professional representation at its events, and is investing to ensure it remains the top player on that front.

In triathlon, competition from the Professional Triathletes Association’s T100 Triathlon World Tour forced IRONMAN to create its IRONMAN Pro Series, which has been a huge success for the company and helped foster a fertile environment for professional triathletes. Today’s announcement appears to be a first step towards a similar trend for professional gravel riders.

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