"Rad Dirt Fest" in Trinidad, Colorado, has been confirmed as the seventh and final off-road event in Mazda's 2023 Lifetime Grand Prix. Organizers chose "traditional" gravel over mountain bike grit for the wildcard race in this year's series expansion.

The third edition of the Rad Dirt Fest, a gravel race founded by Life Time in 2021, will be held two weeks earlier at the Chequamegon MTB Festival in Wisconsin and on October 21 at Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas The Grand Finale will be held on September 30 in the slot between the Grand Finale and the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California on April 9, which will feature the "Fuego XL 100K" cross-country mountain bike race.

"In choosing the seventh race, what we wanted to do was not necessarily adjust the field to fit the race. Last year we got a lot of feedback from athletes and we took that very seriously. And it was interesting to see how many mountain bikers came out on top last year," Kimo Seymour, president of Lifetime Events, told Cycling News about the decision for the 2023 wild card competition.

"The decision came down to whether it would be another mountain bike race or a gravel race. The team decided that we might change it every year, because we call it the Wild Card. But this year the wild card was decided to be "The Lad" in Trinidad, Colorado"

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The Rad Dirt Fest, which is a full invitation-only event for 35 professional men and 35 professional women, requires participants to start five of the seven events under Grand Prix rules, as only the Big Sugar Gravel is required to win the $250,000 overall prize money, No start is required. Last fall, it was pro women's Haley Smith and pro men's Keegan Swenson who took home $250,000 in prize money

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Both champions rose to prominence in mountain biking, as did the majority of the top 10 in their respective categories; in 2023, seven of the top 10 pro women will return, five of whom have raced professionally in mountain biking. Male professional athletes also returned to the top 10, and last year three of the top four were professional mountain bikers.

"Some of the strongest riders came from mountain biking backgrounds, with good results in a series consisting of three mountain bike races and three gravel races. With the growth of gravel, and the direction of cycling in North America leaning toward gravel, we felt it was important to lean a little more toward gravel."

"The organizers of the series were also very interested in the gravel races."

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Organizers added five riders to each pro field, bringing the total to 35 pro women and 35 pro men. The new riders include riders who have dominated cyclocross racing in North America, such as Caroline Mani of France, Pan Am champion Raylin Nuss, and Crystal Anthony, while the pro men include former US elite men's champion Eric Brunner and current US men's single speed champion Kelly Warner.

Trinidad is located in remote southern Colorado, 15 miles from the New Mexico border. The starting line elevation is 6,000 feet, and a new 110-mile course nicknamed "Stubborn Delores" will return, including 10,000 feet of elevation gain in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and towering Spanish Peaks The 2022 version of the long course will be 165 miles, elevation gain over 11,000 feet, and was 90% maintained gravel roads.

Registration for the long course and the 70-mile and 40-mile short courses will open to the public on February 1, following Lifetime members-only early registration on January 25. As a special incentive for Lifetime Grand Prix contestants, registration fees for the Rad Dirt Fest and Series events will be part of the benefits offered by Lifetime.

"The distance is still being fine-tuned, but the pro, or long distance, is going to be about 110 miles, plus or minus. We're still trying to figure out the best route in and out of town," Seymour added.

All seven Grand Prix events are owned and operated by Lifetime, which runs a stable of 13 off-road events across the United States.