Swenson and Villafañe defend Fuego XL titles to take top spots at Life Time Grand Prix

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Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles-SRAM) won for a third time at Life Time Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL mountain bike race while Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) defended her pro women’s title in Monterey, California on Friday. The endurance MTB race, covering 70 miles (112km) served as the opening round of the seven-event Life Time Grand Prix.  

While more than a dozen elite men rode at the front of the race on the final lap, Swenson delivered a winning blow with just a few miles to go and glided solo across the line in 4 hours and 15 seconds, going 3:26 faster than his winning time last year.

Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE-Factor Bikes) finished 48 seconds back in second while South African Matthew Beers (Specialized Off-road) was third, another 18 seconds back. Cole Paton was fourth and Brendan Johnson was fifth.

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The women's race saw Villafañe in a two-rider battle with Alexis Skarda (Santa Cruz Bicycles-SRAM) on the second half of the race, and like last year, Villafañe attacked on the final climb back to Laguna Seca for a solo win. Her time of 4:42:23 eclipsed last year’s mark by nearly 13 minutes. In fact, all the women’s riders went faster than Villafañe’s winning time last year.

Skarda could not pull off a repeat as runner-up, however, as she was caught and passed by New Zealand newcomer Samara Sheppard (Specialized) and Hannah Otto (Pivot Cycles) in the closing miles. Sheppard took second just 15 seconds ahead of Otto. Haley Smith surged for solo fourth, seven seconds ahead of Skarda, who settled for fifth. 

How it unfolded

All elite riders made two circuits of a 33.8-mile (54.4km) route, the same Fuego XL course as last year with punchy climbs, flowy single track, plus recent rains making the ruts on fire roads even deeper. The course travelled to the east and north of Fort Ord National Monument on the west coast of California, piling up 9,422 feet (2,872 metres) of elevation gain. The final 6km climb leads toward the signature start-finish on the pavement of the Laguna Seca motorsports track.

At the halfway point of the men’s race, 12 riders were strung out in a fast line as they headed on a second pass of the circuit, defending champion Swenson riding second wheel. Also in the group were Alexey Vermeulen, Matt Beers, Sean Fincham (Maxxis Factory Racing), Alex Wild, Cole Paton, Finn Gullickson, Brendan Johnson (Giant), Marcis Shelton, Ryan Standish (Orange Seal-Kenda MTB) and Payson McEleveen (Allied Cycle Works - Red Bull). A group of four trailed in the chase - Taylor Lideen (Allied Cycle Works), Torbjørn Røed (Trek-Pearl Izumi), Petr Vakoč (Canyon) and Zach Calton. 

Vakoč was able to bridge to the front group with 15 miles to race, while Lachlan Morton made a big move in his chase. With 10 miles to go, and on the final climb, the pace quickened and front group shattered. Beers had the lead cross the final checkpoint, towing Swenson and Vermeulen. Grotts, Fincham, Paton and Wild had dropped back as a second group only 12 seconds back, but losing more time. 

Vermeulen, Beers and Paton were the only ones to keep Swenson in view, but he sailed away.

The women started five minutes behind the men with their own mass start, and Villafañe wasted no time on the opening uphill section of pavement to take the lead position to the first singletrack path. The defending champion managed a small lead early, but Stephens and Skarda joined her near the end of the first of two laps. Villafañe set the pace as the three-rider train held a steady tempo after two hours of racing and set off on a second lap. 

Just 36 seconds behind, Sheppard led a group of five riders, Huck, Rinehart, Otto and Newsom, their chase also looking quite tempoed under the cloudless, blue sky. More than a minute back, Haley Smith rode solo. 

Halfway through the final lap Skarda continued the battle with Villafañe at the front of the women’s race, while Sheppard, Rinehart, Huck and Otto rode together, almost three minutes off the pace. On the final climb, Villafañe stepped on the accelerator and took off, gaining two minutes over Skarda and riding away for another victory.

The top 10 pro men and women at Fuego XL are all part of the invitation-only 60-rider field for the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix. The top five finishers at each series event record points on a higher scale than other finishers. From the highest points totals compiled in five of the seven events, winners will be determined after the final race, Big Sugar Gravel in October.

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