Keegan Swenson and Haley Batten won the 90-mile Sea Otter Gravel race on Thursday in Monterey, California. With the win, Swenson slips into the familiar lead of the Life Time Grand Prix, a series which he has won for three seasons straight. Batten is not a Grand Prix contender, so the series lead goes to second-place Sofía Gómez Villafañe.
The series opener at the Sea Otter Classic, North America's largest cycling gathering, saw a discipline switch from mountain biking to gravel. The rough and rutted course consisted of a 30-mile lap, completed three times for a total of 90 miles with more than 8,000 feet of climbing.
Matt Beers hit the front early, leading out the first major descent into Fort Ord National Monument for the first of three 30-mile laps. Torbjorn Andre Roed was also seen at the front, leading the gravel peloton through mile marker 14.
It was the powerful South African Matt Beers who led the first climb back up the decisive Lookout Ridge climb, followed by Australian National Champion Brendan Johnston and defending Sea Otter champion Swenson. Several small groups splintered behind but came back together on the pavement of the Laguna Seca racetrack, where about 20 men regrouped for lap two.
Others in the group included Petr Vakoc, Andrew L’Esperance and Alex Wild.
Simon Pellaud is a newcomer to the Life Time Grand Prix, but the Swiss racer went on the attack to gain more than two minutes on the competition. By the time they got back to Lookout, Swenson, Johnston and Alexey Vermeulen had worked to pull the gap down to about a minute.
Pellaud got reeled in but stayed with the group consisting of Johnston, Vakoc, Matt Wilson, Pete Stetina, Beers, Wild, Vermeulen and Swenson as they began the final 20 miles. That got whittled down to just Beers, Swenson, Vermeulen and Johnston, but the Aussie got dropped heading into the final jaunt up Lookout.
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Swenson used the steep slopes of the final climb to push out an advantage, crossing the line ahead of second-place Beers and Vermeulen in third.
“It was fast, tactical racing all day and Lookout Ridge was the only place where there was much selection," Swenson explained post-race. "I knew that was going to be the place to go on the last lap, and that I needed to play my cards right. I gave it everything I had." So hard, in fact, that he was seen vomiting. But the move worked. He opened up a small gap and crossed the finish line solo.
Swenson didn't have a great race at Unbound Gravel in 2024, and so going into the series' most defining race with a lead gives him some confidence, he said.
“It’s nice to have a little buffer heading into UNBOUND too because that’s a crazy, hectic race where anything can happen," he said.
Men's podium at the Sea Otter Classic 90-mile pro gravel race
(Image credit: Life Time)
Keegan Swenson
Matt Beers
Alexey Vermeulen
Petr Vakoc
Brendan Johnston
Alex Wild
Matt Wilson
Paul Voss
Pete Stetina
Simon Pellaud
Elite women
The women’s race saw several breakaway attempts throughout the race, with the first being Frenchwoman Axelle Dubau-Prevot, who went solo in the early miles of the race to gain about 20s seconds on the main group.
She didn’t last long on the front, though, as the chasing group containing gravel specialists like Villafane, Paige Onweller and Lauren De Crescenzo caught her and rolled right on through.
Cecily Decker made a go for it up the Lookout Ridge climb, but her bid also failed. By the time they came back through Laguna Seca for their second lap, Decker was joined by Haley Batten, Melisa Rollins, Villafane, Hayley Preen and Alexis Skarda. Onweller and Erin Huck were chasing off the back of that front group.
Batten—a mountain biker who earned a silver medal at the Paris Olympics—didn’t wait long into the second lap to launch her race-winning attack during a singletrack sector. The Specialized rider pulled out a big advantage, which pushed the pace for the rest of the field, too. Decker and Villafane were the next strongest, and behind them were Onweller, Preen, Skarda, Crescenzo, Courtney Sherwell, and Lauren Stephens.
Neither of the two chasers was able to make an attack on the final lap up Lookout Ridge, so Villafane and Decker crested the climb together.
Villafane managed to open a gap in the last gasps of the day, finishing over 5 minutes behind a victorious Batten.
"This was my first gravel race, so I had no real plan and just wanted to see how the athletes were riding and working together," Batten commented.
She opted for a surprise attack but had expected some of the other riders to go with her. When they didn't, the solo ride to the finish was a long one.
"During the last lap, I was regretting my move as I was deep in the pain cave," she said. "But it turned out well.“
Women's podium at the Sea Otter Classic 90-mile pro gravel race
Ryan Simonovich is a journalist who covers mountain biking and cycling for Cycling Weekly, Singletracks, Velo, Escape Collective and other publications. He has spent a decade participating in the sport as a journalist, industry member, and racer, and he currently lives and rides in Durango, Colorado.
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