Life Time Grand Prix announces initial 2026 rosters
To no one's surprise, breakout gravel star Cameron Jones is among 22 men and 22 women announced this week as the initial competitors for next year's six-race Grand Prix series. He's an automatic selection after getting snubbed last year and having to qualify as a wild card.
He'll face a top field, including three-time Grand Prix champion Keegan Swenson, last year's runner-up Simon Pellaud, Matthew Beers, and longtime gravel pro Payson McElveen. The women's field is headlined by 2025 Grand Prix winner Sofia Villafañe and consistent podium contenders like Lauren De Crescenzo and Cecily Decker.
There's significant turnover in both fields. In the men's lineup, 13 of the 25 final Grand Prix competitors from 2025 won't return – all of them from the lower half of the final 2025 series standings. Gravel's own mad scientist, Dylan Johnson, is perhaps the most notable omission in the men's field. It's a similar story on the women's side, as Paige Onweiler is the only rider placed lower than 13th in the overall standings to get a nod for 2026. Axelle Dubau-Prévot, Haley Smith and Crystal Anthony are all notable names missing from the initial 22-rider roster list.
Notable additions include Unbound 200 winner Karolina Migoń, 2024 Unbound winner and 2025 Gravel Earth series champion Rosa Klòser and Sarah Sturm. For the men, several top-10 riders in the overall Gravel Earth Series standings are poised to make a run at the Grand Prix, including Jan Stöckli and Simon Nordahl Svendsen.
As with last year, three wildcard entrants for each field will be selected on the basis of their performance in the first two rounds of the Grand Prix at the Sea Otter Classic and Unbound Gravel, for a full series field of 25 men and women. Full rosters are available on the Life Time Grand Prix site. [Life Time Grand Prix]
