Maybe Roberge decided he wasn’t interested in mtb races? It seemed like he was skipping some of them already. Wertz said on IG that focusing on gravel was why he didn’t apply. I’m guessing Adam made a similar choice.
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I wonder if they need a prize purse?
It’s not the deciding factor for most of the 60 LTGP athletes. Maybe that $300k could go to live coverage of the events or something else to make it more accessible to casual fans…
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I do think event sponsoship is growing and likely providing some reasonable revenue that helps fund the prize purse. The exhibit area in Leadville was pretty small in 2019 and was pretty sizeable this year. Big Sugar all was much larger the past two years compared to year one.
I would be surprised if that were the case with Roberge. He was racing mtb before anything else. But yeah, I think if mtb isnt your thing, there is more money to be made by performing well at the big gravel races and acquiring bigger and better sponsorships then what the potential payout would be from Lifetime.
This might be of interest.
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Chase Wark was pinning it today on our ride. I didn’t see him on the original list but, he’s there now. Interesting to see how he finishes…
Lather rise repeat….Keegan and Sofia dominate again.
Nice to see Hannah Otto get on the podium in 3rd. And Alexey seems to be starting the season on form as opposed to warming into it.
And of course, Dylan Johnson came in 17th. 
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Alexey ended last year in really good form and now had a great start to this year’s GP. If anyone was questioning whether he could hold his own on an XC course, he answered this pretty resoundingly.
Hannah Otto has talked about how she has changed up her training a lot this year with LFGP and XC Marathon World Cup her primary focuses. She’s had some bad luck in the past with mechanicals and tire issues, but she is such an intelligent athlete I think she is going to be in the mix all year. Looking forward to seeing how Unbound goes as she has used this as a drop event the past to LTGP’s.
Samara Sheppard surprised me with what she did at Fuego XL. Cape Epic may have turned out to be a great diesel engine building block for her. Will be interesting if she can hold that form as the events tilt towards gravel.
Keegan and Sofia are going to be tough to beat. They sent notice in the first event that they remain the riders to beat in each of their divisions.
True, but it was also an event that suits them both well. I’m looking for some of the new euro guys to raise a decent challenge to Keegan once the gravel events kick in. Vakoc, in particular, has my eye.
I don’t see any competition for Sofia on the horizon. As dominant as Keegan is, there is still a massive gap between Sofia and any other woman right now.
Anyone know what the deal with Logan Owen is? It seems like he hasn’t shown up to a race yet, his strava stopped in February, and no insta activity this year from what I can see.
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No info on him, but this is why the grand prix may want to change to a format where they don’t choose riders. Just hold the races, have the prize purse, let anyone that thinks they can finish high enter the races and get slotted in where they fit. That would fix a couple problems. 1. The people that didn’t get in that think they should have can go prove it. 2. Obviously, we have seen now through 2.5 seasons that being chosen doesn’t get a bunch of riders to even show up or finish out the season. 3. It would get rid of the need for separate podiums and the semi-embarrassment of things like Unbound where the actual podium only had one gp athlete. Is it pro racing or not? Let everyone race and whoever accumulates the most points in a max of five of the events is the winner. Boom. Done.
I do get the part about having this exclusive field and that selecting people should have, in theory, made them show up to the races. But it hasn’t played out that way. People skip things all the time for reasons ranging from legit to, I just don’t feel like doing that race.
But how do you handle entry for races like Unbound and Leadville that sell out? Is it too bad Keegan that you didn’t get a lottery entry? Try again next year?
Do they let in anyone who says they want to race pro? All of a sudden, there is gonna be lots of people calling themselves Pros.
Not saying that it can’t be done. But there are some logistical challenges to the Open Field system.
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No you’d still have to have a vetting process of some sort, but thing there’s a middle ground between the limited field and just an open free for all.
What is that middle ground you say? I have very few ideas none of which are sound 
There were tons of pros at Unbound that were not in the grand prix. Do you think they went through the lottery? No chance. Mohoric said he wanted to come so they let him in and, oh you want to bring two teammates? Sure, they’re in too. The actual pro field is not that big, especially on the women’s side. They could let people in. And a lot currently get in on sponsor exemptions for companies that have an expo spot.
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Exactly. It’s like this for every big name race that has a lottery. Pros, sorta pros, they get auto bids/codes through the promoter to enter in BikeReg or whatever reg app and are in. Do you all honestly think all these pros had to enter the SBT lottery? Most of them get comp’d entries and promoters make up the difference by raising prices for the amateurs.
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FWIW I’m pretty sure GVA actually did go through the lottery, but he’s the exception for sure
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There are plenty of documented cases of riders that first had to get in through the lottery and then apply to get into the Elite field.
Sure, big name pros are gonna get comped slots but there are still logistical challenges that make just opening up the Grand Prix to everyone.
(And for the record, I am in favor of that.)
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I don’t have anything against opening up the Grand Prix to everyone, but honestly, there are very few people who are being hurt by the current system.
GVA is not going to do 6 Lifetime races. Nor are any of those other names in the top 10 of Unbound who aren’t in the series. The only people it hurts is those on the bubble of the top 30, and these are either people on their way up, or people on the margins of actually being considered a “pro cyclist”. And there is a pretty clear path to get in. Pick a few Lifetime races and get a result.
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Big races should have some form of elite coordinator. When I was running I had a resume that I sent to race directors asking for an elite entry. This included personal best times (not valid in cycling as this means little) and top race performances (i.e race wins, top 10 finishes in national/regional events, etc). Elite entry would come with some variance of comp entry, accommodations, travel, food stipend, etc. True top tier elites can demand appearance money, but this is likely set up by their agent.
A true “pro” is known, but even a “local hero” asking for a comp entry or a spot on the elite start would at least have a resume of race performances that can be verified.
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Leadville highlights. Not a huge fan of this format - a lot/most of it is not actually the race - but cool to see them committing to a shorter turnaround this year.
