BENTONVILLE — Stella Hobbs (MAAP-ENVE) soloed to victory in the elite women's Big Sugar Gravel in Bentonville, Arkansas on Saturday, clocking 05:10:34 to win the sixth and final round of the Life Time Grand Prix. Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) won the sprint from a four-rider chase group for second, 1:44 in arrears, with Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb) a further second back in third at 1:45.
Hobbs made her decisive move over the top of the power line climb and held off the chasers across the two paved climbs to the finish. Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) jumped early before the final left-hand bend onto the uphill straightaway but was passed late to finish fifth at 1:48, with U23 leader Kylee Hanel (Cervelo-Maxxis) taking fourth at 1:47. "I have often said here I would just really like to see the front of the race finish. I've always wanted that, and that can be a really good motivator," Hobbs told organisers at the finish.
"When I broke away over the top of the 'power line' climb, I thought, maybe. And then I quickly backed myself down from that. Then we have those two paved climbs into the finish, and I did not believe that I would get over the top of both of those without getting caught, until I was through [the climbs and final corners], and then I finally believed I could win it," she added. Villafañe, who entered the race with a 12-point series lead, said the contest was made in the second half on a 24% gradient along a rough road after the final checkpoint: "You start to have a lot of climbs, and you had Paige [Onweller] really looking to animate the race, and Karo [Migoń] was animating, and so was I. The group just slowly started to whittle down, whittle down, and really going into the second feed zone, Stella was really, really pushing the pace, and I was like, I think this girl has winning legs today."
Villafañe's second place secured her fourth Life Time Grand Prix title in five years, while Preen's third place locked second overall. Hobbs, who finished third in last year's storm-shortened Arkansas event and seventh the year before on the traditional 100-plus mile route, entered 12th in the standings and targeted a podium to climb into the top 10, where the season-ending prize purse of $350,000 is shared among women and men, with final calculations still to be confirmed. Hanel's ride with the elites should give her the women's U23 title, and 18 of the top 20 finishers at Big Sugar were part of the Life Time Grand Prix. "We tried really hard to bring Stella back and we couldn't. Super hard day. It was actually very, very tactical. I am super happy to have a good ride," Villafañe told the Life Time broadcast at the finish.