Swenson not only won the men’s race but did so in record-setting fashion, covering the 105-mile course in 5:49:08.
Villafañe came in second at Leadville with a time of 7:14:03 to American Melisa Rollins (Team Twenty24), who cruised to the win four minutes ahead of Villafañe in 7:10:10.
Swenson sits atop the men’s leaderboard with 94 points, with challengers Payson McElveen (SRAM, Allied Cycleworks) in second, seven points behind, and Unbound-winner Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) in third, 11 points behind Swenson.
On the women’s leaderboard, Villafañe holds the top spot, but with a much smaller margin between her and second place Haley Smith (Trek): Villafañe has 88 points while Smith has 83. Third place Hannah Otto (Pivot Cycles) has 81 points.
At every Life Time Grand Prix race, the first-place finish is worth 35 points, second-place 33 points, and third-place 31 points. Each place after that is awarded one to two fewer points than the place above it.
Now, just three races remain for Sweson and Villafañe to solidify their series victories or for a worthy opponent to unseat either of them.
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A look at the remaining races:
(Image credit: Lifetime)
September 14: Chequamegon MTB
The shortest race of the series, the 40-mile Chequamegon mountain bike features varying terrain as it meanders from downtown Hayward, Wisconsin, over the famed American Birkebeiner Ski Trail and into the town of Cable.
September 28: 110-mile The Rad Dirt Fest
The penultimate event of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix series is held in Trinidad, Colorado, on a “fun and fast” gravel course.
Life Time launched the Rad Dirt Fest in 2021. Organizers state that the gravel weekend was selected to be part of the Grand Prix to give series athletes a new and ‘relaxed’ event to participate in while also giving Life Time the opportunity to showcase Trinidad as a bike destination and, of course, promote a newer event.
October 19: 100-mile Big Sugar Gravel Race
The final event of the Life Time Grand Prix is mandatory for all and will serve as a tiebreaker in the event of a tie on points. This event is another rugged and remote gravel race, this time showcasing some of the best unpaved roads Arkansas has to offer.
Swenson had his worst finishes of the series at Chequamegon and Big Sugar last year, finishing second and third, respectively, with a DNS at The Rad Dirt Fest.
Villafañe also struggled at these events in 2023, finishing third at Chequamegon, DNS’ing The Rad Dirt Fest, and finishing in a shocking 24th at Big Sugar.
With a $300,000 prize purse on the line, though, fans can bet that Swenson and Villafañe will be doing all they can to retain their top spots and ultimately claim victory across the series for a third time for Swenson, and a second time for Villafañe.
But as all good cycling fans know, whether road, gravel, or MTB, the race ain’t over ’til it’s over, and that will be very much the case all the way until the final finish line sprint of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix series.
