And it works.
Quite possibly the way forward for the sport in North America. And maybe even Europe.
Michael Woods · Tour de France stage winner
One of the most interesting experiments in US cycling.
Joe Laverick · Cycling journalist
A continental US road race got the broadcast treatment professional cycling lost a decade ago. Multi-camera, expert commentary, real-time graphics, full live coverage — beamed worldwide. Replay still climbing.
As good as any World Tour race, in my opinion.
@nockee · YouTube live stream comment
Made possible by Skipstone as presenting sponsor and Cervélo as official bike of Levi's GranFondo.
A Tour de France stage winner. The two-time defending champion. Olympic athletes. World Tour pros. A breakout local kid. They all came to Sonoma for one race. The field was the proof — this is real.
Marcis Shelton — the young local who finished 2nd to Keegan Swenson last year — came back and won it. Out of a six-rider sprint that included Tour de France stage winner Mike Woods (6th) and Brennan Wertz (5th, fighting double leg cramps in the final). A breakthrough talent beating the proven names on his home roads.
Stoked to land on the podium at this incredible race.
Brennan Wertz · 5th place
Lauren Stephens goes back-to-back. Holding off Sofia Gomez Villafañe — multi-time Lifetime Grand Prix winner and Olympic mountain biker — by 1:49. Kate Courtney took 🥉 after being dropped on the second climb and fighting back across 137 miles. A champion defends. World-class international names show up.
Step by step I rode myself back into the fight.
Kate Courtney · 3rd place
The race got 49,500 live stream views. But the riders who showed up brought their own audience — and they brought it with them, before, during, and long after race day. Race recaps. Bike checks. Podium photos. Course tours. Every story posted by every athlete is a story about Levi's GranFondo reaching their followers directly.
A note on this number. Follower counts are gathered from public profiles. Follower overlap between these athletes is unavoidable — many fans follow several of these riders — so 1.14M is best read as a cumulative impressions ceiling across the listed athletes' channels, not as unique humans reached. It also only counts the 18 named athletes above; the pro field included roughly 100 additional competitors whose individual followings are smaller but who add meaningful reach on top of this total. Earned impressions from reposts, tagged sponsor and team posts, and cycling media coverage are counted separately below.
Athletes amplified LGF directly. The cycling media amplified it again — to audiences far larger than any individual rider. Velo gave the race ongoing coverage. Two of the most-listened cycling podcasts dedicated full episodes to LGF athletes and to Levi himself. And sponsor brands put the race in front of their own customer audiences.
All publication, podcast, and brand handle counts verified from public profiles. Podcast accounts also amplify beyond their handle followers — through Spotify and Apple Podcasts listenership, and through their hosts' individual platforms (Payson McElveen of With Pace counted separately as an athlete above; Levi Leipheimer of Road Tales is the founder of this event). Levi's GranFondo specifically received three dedicated episodes on With Pace covering the winner, a top-five finisher, and the event founder.
Juniors raced in 2026. Every one of them, for free.
It isn't a token kids race. We've built a developmental ladder — from a child's first time on a bike to 18-year-olds racing the same Geysers climb the pros race. Every step funded. Every step free.
These are some of the best roads anywhere. And LGF put on one of the best junior race experiences we've seen. Our riders felt like pros today.
Sycip Devout · partner youth org
Funds from presenting sponsor Skipstone flowed through King Ridge Foundation as direct support to four organizations doing on-the-ground work with kids — across cycling development, adaptive outdoor adventure, and trauma-informed therapy for foster youth.
The format really shows the difference in speed between the pros and us amateurs. Love the ability to ride with the pros — even if only for a moment.
@johnsullivan636 · YouTube
Some of the best roads for riding a road bike anywhere in the world.
The premise is that simple. Sonoma County's roads — twisting through redwoods, climbing past vineyards, descending toward the Pacific — are an undersold global asset. The broadcast is how the world finds out.
Charitable giving and local economic activity aren't a nice-to-have at Levi's GranFondo — they're the proof of the model. Every year, we raise more for at-risk youth. Every year, more money flows into Sonoma County on the back of the event.
Not abstract. Counted. Per our 2026 participant survey, each rider brought 2.05 non-riding companions on average. Non-locals stayed an average of 1.79 nights. Multiply those out and the typical non-local rider party generates 3.66 room nights in Sonoma County. Multiplied across 1,900+ riders and their companions, that's where the impact lands.
In 2026, that meant $80,000 allocated to four youth service organizations — Blue Tailed Skinks, Sycip Devout, Adventure For All, and Forget Me Not Farm. Free entry for 191 juniors. A six-figure prize purse split equally between men and women. And a $3.875M boost to a wine-country economy that benefits from every visitor it can attract.
Levi's GranFondo doesn't sell brand exposure in the abstract. It sells outcomes. In 2026, three top-tier partners — between them — made every single thing in this recap possible. A wider community of brands and local partners stood behind them.
Lead financial support across the event. Funds flowed through King Ridge Foundation to enable the prize purse, the broadcast, the free junior program, and the 2026 record charitable raise.
Equipment partnership powering the elite field and underpinning the production. Visible across the broadcast, on the start line, at the podium.
The host community partnership behind the start and finish, and the public infrastructure that makes an event of this scale possible in Sonoma County.
Additional partners who believed and invested in the event.
The $156,000 Prize Purse
Equal pay across men's and women's elite fields. The richest one-day road race in the world.
The Live Broadcast
49,500 views, 78 countries, 18% engagement. World Tour–quality production for an American road race.
The Free Junior Program
191 juniors raced for free. $20K in direct grants to the youth orgs that build the developmental ladder.
The Charitable Record
$140,375 raised in 2026 — the highest single-year total in the event's history. ~$4M cumulative.