The Sea Otter Classic gravel race will be one of four events in this year’s Life Time Grand Prix to get the live broadcast treatment. Held on Thursday 16 April, the Monterey, California, race will be shown from start to finish on YouTube.
Stars of the discipline including Keegan Swenson and Alexey Vermeulen will line up at the men’s event, beginning at 10am PDT for the elite men, and Lauren De Crescenzo and Tiffany Cromwell in the women’s race, which starts at 10:30am.
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The Sea Otter is the first round of a six-event series that also includes Unbound (30 May, Kansas), the Leadville 100 (15 August, Colorado), Chequamegon MTB Festival (19 Sept, Wisconsin), Little Sugar MTB (11 October, Arizona) and Big Sugar Gravel (17 October, Arizona). Of these, Unbound, Leadville and Big Sugar will also be shown live.
As well as the Sea Otter Classic gravel event, there will be mountain bike and criterium races, as well as a Gran Fondo ride and even a new-for-’26 trail run. These all take place around the Sea Otter Expo, a festival of cycling that runs from Thursday to Sunday that is based in the Laguna Seca Raceway. It offers everything from industry exhibitors to an international food court and beer garden – not to mention a host of pro athletes mingling with the crowds.
The Classic gravel race itself is held over three laps of a 30-mile course, both for men and women. Each lap features a healthy 2,600ft (800m) of climbing. The course sees the field descend out of the Raceway start before tackling a short paved climb around 10km in. The rest of the lap is lumpy until the final 10 kilometres, much of which are uphill as the riders wind their way back up to the Raceway and pass through the finish line.
This year’s Sea Otter also boasts 50-plus qualifying spots for this year’s Unbound. Half will go to the top finishers in each category (there are age-group category races on Friday 17 April – but only three-lap racers qualify), and the rest will be chosen as part of a random draw of entrants.
Cycling Weekly spoke to veteran racer Ted King about his gravel career, and his status as the oldest rider lining up in this year’s Sea Otter.
