Live coverage of U.S. road racing disappeared with the cancellation of the major UCI road races like the Tour of California and the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge in the late twenty-teens. That’s about to change on April 19 when Levi’s Gran Fondo’s Growler will offer live racing coverage of both the elite men’s and women’s fields beginning at 11 a.m. PDT at
https://www.levisgranfondo.com.
Levi Leipheimer and his team, including Bike Monkey’s Carlos Perez and new sponsor Skip Stone Winery were looking at how to take the marquee race, The Growler, with it’s $156,000 prize purse, to the next level.
“We just felt like “Okay, we've got this we've got this huge prize purse,” Leipheimer said. “split it evenly between the men and the women. It’s the biggest prize list in the world and ee need to take this to the next level. because if we really want to bring the most value to our sponsors, our event and to our cause, we need people to be able to see this thing.”
Listen to Levi Leipheimer interview on Bike Talk with Dave
That got the ball rolling and with six motor bikes, several drones and several cameras at the finish line, the production crew has it’s work cut out for them.
“All these feeds will be beamed through the Starling satellite system,” said Leiphimer. “We’ve tested it even in the most remote and hard to reach spots on the course, and it all works. We have like 10 or 11 camera feeds, along with race commentary provided by Matt Stephens, sent to a production studio in Colorado, where they’ll cut it up, add graphics and feeding it right into YouTube. I believe it will be the best coverage you’ve seen since the Tour of California.”
Racers are excited about, not just the six-digit prize purse, but the live streaming helps them really connect with fans and give value to sponsors. We talked with cyclocross and gravel pro Crystal Anthony about racing in The Growler.
“Live streaming is great for the sport in so many ways,” she said. “Fans feel much more engaged when they can see the dynamics of the race and the personalities of the racers being expressed in the tactics. Fans come to really root for a rider or get intrigued by an event. What really resonates with sports is thestruggle, the moments that all people can relate to. Someone looking like theyare dropped but clawing back. Someone making a gutsy move only to be brought back. Someone crashing but living to fight another day. Rivalries. These are the things that you really only pick up on through live coverage, but are what make sports compelling.”
“This kind of engagement helps with the marketability of riders to their sponsors as well,” continued Anthony. “Not only is the prize purse supporting the riders financially, the live stream is indirectly supporting that too.”
Peter Stetina, who raced internationally on the road before switching to gravel in the U.S. sees it as a way to connect with a knowledgable audience who are in tune with the success of American road racers overseas, and are anxious to catch some racing on home soil.
“I think it's super important,” said Stetina. “There is clearly an appetite for it given the star power and attention focused on our best roadies abroad like Matteo (Jorganson), Sepp (Kuss) and Brandon (McNulty). Road cycling is still followed and I think folks will really enjoy a dynamic tough classic on home soil.”
Lauren Stephens, the two time U.S. Gravel National Champion, and has a road racing resume as deep and successful as anyone who’s clipped into a pedal, is as excited for the dynamic racing as she is the live coverage.
“I think it's going to be an interesting race and I think we're going to have a lot more women there this year. That's a good thing,” she said. “I'm definitely looking forward to it. Last year I conflicted with Redlands, so the women's field was pretty small and we definitely had a lot of gravel racers, but, I think there’s a chance this year that we might have a mixture of both road and gravel racers, which that will be pretty cool and interesting.”
And the course? Leipheimer likens it to some of the European Spring Classics. ??“You know, this course is super tough. I think it’s like Liege Bastogne Liege,” said Leipheimer. “So it's gonna break up. There are going to be groups. There are going to be people everywhere. Sonoma County is just incredible, you know, I like to call myself an authority on this, as I’ve ridden all over the world… it's the best road riding in the U.S.”
Crystal Anthony is excited to give this a go for the first time this year.
“Levi’s (Gran Fondo) is an exciting new event for me this year, drawing a large women’s field that spans lots of disciplines, mountain biking, road, gravel, cyclocross,” she said. “It will be really interesting to see what strengths from each discipline will contribute to overall success at the event. Last year the weather was pretty epic, so cue those with cyclocross experience. It’s a road race so of course road racers have the comfort with higher speeds, drafting, and navigating tactics to their advantage. Time-wise, it will be most similar to a gravel race, so that long endurance will come in handy. Mountain bikers are used to racing solo, and although there are some road racers at this event, there aren’t many organized teams present, so it’s likely to be more individual efforts. Seeing how all these factors interact will make for a great story.”
A great story indeed. Nearly 140 miles of narrow hilly roads, individual riders from a variety of disciplines. Road teams. Gravel privateers. All mixed in with a six-figure prize purse and live coverage.
Lauren Stephens summed it up best, perhaps: “It’ll be super cool and interesting.”
Levi’s Gran Fondo ?Live Coverage of The Growler, 138-mile elite race. ?Men and Women
Begins 11:00 am Pacific Daylight Time
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Tune in for free at