Levi's GranFondo is now the richest one-day professional road race in the world.
In 2024 we integrated a professional race into Levi’s GranFondo called The Growler. This year, thanks to the support of our new presenting partner, Skipstone, we're doubling down. Come witness, or partake in history being made.
1st Place: $25,000
2nd Place: $15,000
3rd Place: $10,000
4th Place: $7,000
5th Place: $6,000
6th Place: $5,000
7th Place: $4,000
8th Place: $3,000
9th Place: $2,000
10th Place: $1,000
1st Place: $25,000
2nd Place: $15,000
3rd Place: $10,000
4th Place: $7,000
5th Place: $6,000
6th Place: $5,000
7th Place: $4,000
8th Place: $3,000
9th Place: $2,000
10th Place: $1,000
Since day one, Levi’s GranFondo has provided a universally celebrated cycling experience for people from around the world—whether they seek community, leisure, health, fitness, mental wellbeing, personal challenge, or elite competition. This event brings all of these elements together, creating a harmonious yet complex orchestration of riders moving through a network of beautifully intertwined roads.
This journey requires a shared awareness of the spirit of the ride—a collective experience we embark on together. Your movement has a ripple effect, shaping the day for everyone who partakes. We invite you to tread lightly and navigate Sonoma County’s bucolic landscape with grace and respect, ensuring that every participant can enjoy and celebrate this extraordinary event.
Anyone participating in Levi's GranFondo is permitted to select from any of our seven route options, including the Growler. However, only those who are vetted and approved to compete as an elite racer may start with the front groups. This year, for the first time ever we will start Growler and Junior racers* in separate waves to improve the safety and fairness of competition.
*When registering, participants who select the Growler route will be asked whether they desire to race the growler, or simply ride it. If you did not receive an invitation to race the growler, you must provide a resume or a narrative of your racing experience when you register.
Participants competing in the Growler will now start separately, and ahead of the main group. Men, Women, and Juniors will each receive separate start times ahead of the mass start for those not competing to race. Specific start times will be established, and announced at a future date, and this section will be updated.
New this year, we are allowing personal support at mile 83, along Skaggs Springs Road at the Warm Springs Recreation area parking lot of Lake Sonoma. There is a parking lot adjacent the road with a wide shoulder where competitors can slow to receive support. Additionally, we will provide a neutral bottle feed at this site for those who do not have personal support. This is the only location in the race where personal support is allowed. Providing personal support anywhere else on-course is prohibited, and will lead to disqualification.
No equipment other than what you can carry yourself is allowed to be placed or staged on-course. For instance, you are not allowed to stash gear, clothing, or equipment on-course in any way to be collected or swapped out during your race. The exception is the personal support zone at Lake Sonoma where equipment and nutrition can be provided by your personal support team.
Time trial bars are not allowed. Use of them poses a danger to yourself and others in our large, and dynamic pack environment.
This should be obvious, but littering is not allowed. Aid stations placed on-course will have waste management. You will be able to discard trash at these locations only.
If you leave any personal items, packs, clothing, etc. at any of our aid stations, they are unlikely to be retrievable until days after the event, and will likely end up in our lost-and-found. Shipping charges will apply if you are unable to retrieve items in person at Bike Monkey HQ in Santa Rosa. We advise you to place your name and address on items you might discard at an aid station.
General misconduct will not be tolerated at Levi's GranFondo. Deliberately interfering with the progress of other athletes, or creating an unsafe racing environment will result in disqualification.
At 4:00 PM on Friday, April 12th we will host a mandatory rider safety meeting for all Growler participants. This meeting will be in-person at the Windsor Town Green, and is required for all racing Growler competitors. If you cannot attend the meeting in-person join it virtually on Instagram.
Traffic over the first several miles of Levi's GranFondo is controlled to the best of our abilities with the support of California Highway Patrol, and Windsor Police. However the event takes place on an open road, meaning that at any time you can and will encounter vehicle traffic that is not associated with our event. For this reason, you must adhere to a strict center-line rule at all times as you may encounter vehicles trying to pass you or oncoming traffic. The majority of the course takes place in remote areas where traffic is sparse, but not absent. Share the road.
Each route is marked with colored arrows that correspond to the color of the number plate you are given which corresponds to the route you selected when you registered. The Growler is marked with red arrows. The name of the color is also displayed on these signs to support those with anyform of color blindness.
Additionally, in the last 10KM of the race, you will begin seeing course signs that indicate the distance to the finish. There are two critical roundabouts where you could accidentally veer off course if you are not paying attention. The first roundabout comes at 600 meters to the finish, and you must continue straight through it. The second roundabout is just 100 meters from the finish and is obviously a crucial turn to make. These signs, and support personnel will work together to guide you into the 100 meter long finish straight.
You will see the final course signs in the following order unless you are riding the shortest Family Fondo course.
You will be given three numbers to apply to yourself and your bike. The first is a number plate to place on the front of your bike, and should be hung from the front of the handlebars, not bent around the headtube or tampered with in any way. While it may be tempting to bend it around your headtube, this makes the numbers nearly impossible to read. There will also be a "bib" number plate that you will need to attach to the back of your jersey with provided safety pins. Finally, there is a seat-post sticker that must be attached to your bike's seat post in the manner that is indicated on the sticker itself. It includes a sensitive RFID tag that will be used to capture your finish time with electronic equipment. You must attach these items as we have described. If you need assistance, of course our staff can ensure that your numbers are properly attached. Here are examples of what these three items look like:
For competitors racing the Growler, there will be no front-facing bike plate, only a seat post tag, and a rider bib.
The finish of the Growler is considered to be technical, as you will be catching slower participants who rode shorter routes and will be finishing ahead of you at the same time. For this reason you must exercise extreme caution in the last 5KM of the race as you overtake much slower riders.
Our fleet of moto marshals will do their best to alert slower riders of your approach so that they may move to the right edge of the road, allowing you to safely pass them. But please consider that these slower riders may not have the technical riding abilities that you do as an elite cyclist.
GIVE THEM SPACE AND PASS THEM WITH CAUTION AND AWARENESS.
We will provide a neutral bottle feed at each of our four full-service aid stations specifically for Growler competitors. There will be bottles with plain water, and bottles with Gu hydration mix. In order to ensure that both men and women receive this support we are providing color-coded bottles. Men's bottles are blue. Women's bottles are yellow.
Men will be allowed to grab and discard up to two bottles from the men's blue bottle cache.
Women will be allowed to grab and discard up to two bottles from the women's yellow bottle cache.
The bottle feed will consist of a mixture of bottles that contain Gu electrolyte mix, and plain water. They will be designated with signage at these bottle feed tables which will be placed beside the road with large signs indicating which bottles are for the men and which are for the women.
Along the Growler course we provide 2 self-serve water stations, and 4 full-service aid stations. Self-serve water stations consist of water containers that you must stop at and use to fill your own bottle(s). They are intended for athletes suffering well behind the leaders, and therefore we do not advise a top contender to stop here unless absolutely necessary. Our 4 full service aid stations on the other hand feature a range of support from food, hydration mix, mechanics, and the Growler Bottle Feed Zones. Aid stations are located as follows:
- 29mi: Cazadero (self-serve water)
- 45mi: King Ridge (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 67mi: Skaggs (self-serve water)
- 89mi: Cloverdale (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 109mi: Geysers (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 123mi: Alexander Valley (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
There is no "roving" mechanical support. Make sure to bring your basics: tube, pump, multi-tool, etc. If you need assistance from a mechanic, you must get it at one of our full-service aid stations indicated above.
We do not provide "bag drop" support on-course. In other words, we cannot manage the placement of any items for you on-course.
Levi's GranFondo will take place one week after the Sea Otter Classic, on Saturday, April 19th of 2025.
Anyone participating in Levi's GranFondo is permitted to select from any of our seven route options, including the Growler. However, only those who are vetted and approved to compete as an elite racer may start with the front groups. This year, for the first time ever we will start Growler and Junior racers* in separate waves to improve the safety and fairness of competition.
*When registering, participants who select the Growler route will be asked whether they desire to race the growler, or simply ride it. If you did not receive an invitation to race the growler, you must provide a resume or a narrative of your racing experience when you register.
Participants competing in the Growler will now start separately, and ahead of the main group. Men, Women, and Juniors will each receive separate start times ahead of the mass start for those not competing to race. Specific start times will be established, and announced at a future date, and this section will be updated.
New this year, we will allow personal support to be provided at mile 83, along Skaggs Springs Road at the Warm Springs Recreation area parking lot of Lake Sonoma. There is a parking lot adjacent the road with a wide shoulder where competitors can slow to receive support. Additionally, we will provide a neutral bottle feed at this site for those who do not have personal support. This is the only location in the race where personal support is allowed. Providing personal support anywhere else on-course is prohibited, and will lead to disqualification.
No equipment other than what you can carry yourself is allowed to be placed or staged on-course. For instance, you are not allowed to stash gear, clothing, or equipment on-course in any way to be collected or swapped out during your race. The exception is the personal support zone at Lake Sonoma where equipment and nutrition can be provided by your personal support team.
Male and female athletes may not interfere with each others races. This could happen any number of ways. For example, a male athlete who fell off the main group and gets caught by the women’s field may not draft or offer a draft or ride in a manner that may influence or interfere with the behavior of that field in any way. Similarly, a female athlete who finds herself mixed with male competitors of the Growler may not swap drafts with them in order to gain an advantage over her competitors. Each gender must not leverage the other for a race advantage, as they are separate races, and must race in the spirit of being separate races.
While separate start times are intended to eliminate any unfair advantages from materializing, this does not guarantee that competitors from different gender groups do not find themselves near enough to create a potential draft advantage scenario. Additionally, no hand-ups or mechanical support is allowed between male and female competitors.
The bottom line is that we want to provide as pure a form of racing as possible, taking into consideration that situations arise where the athletes themselves must race with candor, and respect for their fellow competitors, and race with an ethos that remains true to fair competition. We take this seriously, and if it is reported by a Moto, marshal, or competitor may be open as a dispute that disqualifies one or more offending athletes.
Time trial bars are not allowed. Use of them poses a danger to yourself and others in our large, and dynamic pack environment.
This should be obvious, but littering is not allowed. Aid stations placed on-course will have waste management. You will be able to discard trash at these locations only.
If you leave any personal items, packs, clothing, etc. at any of our aid stations, they are unlikely to be retrievable until days after the event, and will likely end up in our lost-and-found. Shipping charges will apply if you are unable to retrieve items in person at Bike Monkey HQ in Santa Rosa. We advise you to place your name and address on items you might discard at an aid station.
Disputes of any kind must be addressed in-person with official race scoring staff at the finish line. A dispute is not guaranteed to result in a disqualification or action on our part, but will be heard, and may be reviewed. Disputes that are unable to be substantiated with evidence may be disregarded.
General misconduct will not be tolerated at Levi's GranFondo. Deliberately interfering with the progress of other athletes, or creating an unsafe racing environment will result in disqualification.
At 4:00 PM on Friday, April 12th we will host a mandatory rider safety meeting for all Growler participants. This meeting will be in-person at the Windsor Town Green, and is required for all racing Growler competitors. If you cannot attend the meeting in-person join it virtually on Instagram.
Traffic over the first several miles of Levi's GranFondo is controlled to the best of our abilities with the support of California Highway Patrol, and Windsor Police. However the event takes place on an open road, meaning that at any time you can and will encounter vehicle traffic that is not associated with our event. For this reason, you must adhere to a strict center-line rule at all times as you may encounter vehicles trying to pass you or oncoming traffic. The majority of the course takes place in remote areas where traffic is sparse, but not absent. Share the road.
All courses are marked with corresponding colors. The Growler is marked in red. Additionally, in the last 10KM of the race, you will begin seeing course signs that indicate the distance to the finish. There are two critical roundabouts where you could veer off course if you are not attentive. The first roundabout comes at 600 meters to the finish, and you must continue straight through it. The second roundabout is just 100 meters from the finish and is obviously a crucial turn to make. These signs, and support personnel will work together to guide you into the 100 meter long finish straight.
You will be given three numbers to apply to yourself and your bike. The first is a number plate to place on the front of your bike, and should be hung from the front of the handlebars, not bent around the headtube or tampered with in any way. While it may be tempting to bend it around your headtube, this makes the numbers nearly impossible to read. There will also be a "bib" number plate that you will need to attach to the back of your jersey with provided safety pins. Finally, there is a seat-post sticker that must be attached to your bike's seat post in the manner that is indicated on the sticker itself. It includes a sensitive RFID tag that will be used to capture your finish time with electronic equipment. You must attach these items as we have described. If you need assistance, of course our staff can ensure that your numbers are properly attached. Here are examples of what these three items look like:
For competitors racing the Growler, there will be no front-facing bike plate, only a seat post tag, and a rider bib.
The finish of the Growler is considered to be technical, as you will be catching slower participants who rode shorter routes and will be finishing ahead of you at the same time. For this reason you must exercise extreme caution in the last 5KM of the race as you overtake much slower riders.
Our fleet of moto marshals will do their best to alert slower riders of your approach so that they may move to the right edge of the road, allowing you to safely pass them. But please consider that these slower riders may not have the technical riding abilities that you do as an elite cyclist.
GIVE THEM SPACE AND PASS THEM WITH CAUTION AND AWARENESS.
We will provide a neutral bottle feed at each of our four full-service aid stations specifically for Growler competitors. There will be bottles with plain water, and bottles with Gu hydration mix. In order to ensure that both men and women receive this support we are providing color-coded bottles. Men's bottles are blue. Women's bottles are yellow.
Men will be allowed to grab and discard up to two bottles from the men's blue bottle cache.
Women will be allowed to grab and discard up to two bottles from the women's yellow bottle cache.
The bottle feed will consist of a mixture of bottles that contain Gu electrolyte mix, and plain water. They will be designated with signage at these bottle feed tables which will be placed beside the road with large signs indicating which bottles are for the men and which are for the women.
Along the Growler course we provide 2 self-serve water stations, and 4 full-service aid stations. Self-serve water stations consist of water containers that you must stop at and use to fill your own bottle(s). They are intended for athletes suffering well behind the leaders, and therefore we do not advise a top contender to stop here unless absolutely necessary. Our 4 full service aid stations on the other hand feature a range of support from food, hydration mix, mechanics, and the Growler Bottle Feed Zones. Aid stations are located as follows:
- 29mi: Cazadero (self-serve water)
- 45mi: King Ridge (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 67mi: Skaggs (self-serve water)
- 89mi: Cloverdale (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 109mi: Geysers (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
- 123mi: Alexander Valley (FULL SUPPORT + BOTTLE FEED)
There is no "roving" mechanical support. Make sure to bring your basics: tube, pump, multi-tool, etc. If you need assistance from a mechanic, you must get it at one of our full-service aid stations indicated above.
We do not provide "bag drop" support on-course. In other words, we cannot manage the placement of any items for you on-course.
Levi's GranFondo will take place one week after the Sea Otter Classic, on Saturday, April 19th of 2025.
