A three-fold increase in the prize purse at this year's The Growler, the 139-mile one-day road race at Levi's GranFondo, brings the total payout to $156,000 for the top 10 riders in men's and women's divisions on April 19.
Other changes to the pro race include separate start times for women, men and juniors, one designated 'personal support' area on the route and payouts going 10 deep. Last year The Growler rewarded the top five women and top five men equally with shares that totalled $55,000. This year winners will receive $25,000 checks.
The high-stakes rewards have already paid dividends for organisers with early commitments from the pros, including defending champions Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) and Lauren De Crescenzo (Factor/The Feed/Wahoo/PERC). Among contenders looking to take away the top prizes and prestige on the men's side include Sonoma County natives Peter Stetina (Canyon CLLCTV) and Luke Lamperti (Soudal-QuickStep), Matt Beers, US gravel national champion Brendan Wertz, and on the women's side top-four finishers Sarah Sturm and Flavia Oliveira Parks.
New title sponsorship from Skipstone, a limited-production estate winery in the Alexander Valley area of Sonoma County, was responsible for the massive 283% increase in prize money for the pro race. Event co-founder and former WorldTour rider Levi Leipheimer, who began the GranFondo in 2009 with Bike Monkey CEO Carlos Perez, said the 2025 event is not just rich for rewards, but also generous for the development of aspiring pros.
“We are so grateful for the generous support from our friends at Skipstone. Fahri [Diner, proprietor at Skipstone] really believes in in the ecosystem of the fondo and how it's a participatory event. Anyone can sign up for it," Leipheimer told Cyclingnews, noting that the event has seven ride distances and will again support the King Ridge Foundation.
"But we're yet giving back to at-risk kids, and we're giving back to the sport now with this prize list and offering a road race that has a lower barrier to entry than your typical UCI-organized races, which they definitely have their place. But I see this as a way for people to get into the sport, whether they're just signing up for the short route to ride the first time, or they're an aspiring racer, and they get to line up next to Peter Stetina, Luke Lamperti, or Lauren De Crescenzo."
While the one-day Classics in Europe hit a crescendo the same week with Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race, The Growler offers a similar challenge, Leipheimer referring to the route as 'single track for road bikes'. The same hilly circuit on narrow, twisting roads will be used as last year, taking in vineyards and forests across 13,800 feet of elevation gain.
There will be many modifications between the start and finish lines in the town of Windsor this time out. A mass start will continue for amateur riders in all distances, however, the elite divisions in the Growler will each have their own start times to begin the day, the times still to be determined. The third and fourth groups to start will be the junior men, on the Geyser route of 86 miles, and then the junior women, on the Medio route at 68 miles.
On the route for the first time will be a 'personal support' zone where athletes can have equipment and nutrition can be picked up, or dropped. A neutral bottle feed will also be at this same location for any rider.
"I give credit to gravel because I think it has taught the athletes how to be self-sufficient. That is a big reason why this can work is because we don't have a big follow caravan like you see in the Tour de France. There's no personal team support, we can't have all that traffic. So riders have learned to be self-sufficient.
"We've invested a lot more in traffic control this year, more moto marshals out there because now we have separate starts. My main goal and my main concern is I want everyone to be safe."
The emphasis on safety includes not just route markings with distinctive arrows on each course, but specific deviations in the final 7km when The Growler racers are expected to finish at the same time as amateurs on shorter routes.
"When the top men and top women are getting close, we're going to start to send the riders on the shorter routes on a more direct way to the finish. There will be separate finish lines. Then when the top men and the top women have finished, the people on those shorter routes will continue to go that way to the finish. It's for everyone's safety."
Registration is now open for The Growler and the other six distances for Levi's GranFondo, with more pro athletes to be announced in the coming weeks.
Last year Swenson accelerated past former WorldTour pro Lawrence Naesen at the line to win the men’s division of The Growler, while De Crescenzo soloed to victory in the women’s division.
