Two races, one report - covering the next leg of the Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup series in Brooklyn.

On Tuesday, March 24th, the men’s race team came together at Matthew’s place, within walking distance from where the races take place in Prospect Park. It was new for me, I (Bob) joined the team in November 2025 and was looking forward to spring starting and racing with the squad. After sharing our ambitions for the year, it really motivated me to work on my own goals:

Collectively: Team racing, team tactics, and team accomplishments
Personal: Collect my first points to move up to Cat 3

The Lucarelli & Castaldi races have three types of jerseys to fight for (Yellow, Green, and Polka Dots for the KOM). Matthew was able to capture 3 KOM points during the first race, and from that moment we set our collective target—to win the KOM competition. Walking home, I felt motivated and excited to show up on Sunday and support the team to the best of my abilities.

L&C Cup Race #2 (March 29th) – 6:25 AM – 9 Laps

The day before race day, Matthew told us he wasn’t able to race because he wasn’t feeling well. However, with Jacob, Elbert, and myself, we still had a strong squad at the start.

The goal was clear: grab as many KOM points as possible.

After a calm first lap, an early break of two riders formed. The peloton was taking it easy, and this was the moment Jacob attacked and successfully formed a break of three. It was a special feeling being in the peloton—it was the first time it felt great to have someone up the road and to think about how I could help disrupt the chase.

After the breakaway sprinted for the Green Jersey, the KOM flag was waved immediately after. The breakaway was pushing hard (Jacob hit his best-ever 15-minute power), but the peloton started closing the gap—likely because the SANBA team was fighting for the KOM competition and wanted to control it.

Just before the hill, everything came back together, and it was time for me to do my job. I had already chosen the wheel of the KOM leader and kept telling myself, “don’t go too early.” The KOM leader was riding at about 80% effort, constantly looking back, almost waiting for someone to attack.

Halfway up the hill, there was still hesitation—this was the moment. I launched my sprint and didn’t look back. I crossed the line first—3 points in the pocket!

Laps 4–5 were a bit more relaxed, after which a break of four riders got away. I thought it might be too early, but we never saw them again. This also meant we didn’t get another chance to collect KOM points, but the situation was fine—none of the riders in the break were competing for the KOM jersey.

After the race, it was great to come together as a group. We had such a blast! Thank you, Elbert and Jacob! Having a shared goal and seeing it play out was an amazing feeling—and as a team, we’re still fully in the competition!

L&C CUP Race #3 (April 5th) – 6:20 AM – 9 Laps

After the positive momentum from the previous week, we only had to wait 7 days to do it all over again!

The KOM standings: two riders at 4 points, and two riders at 3 points (Matthew and myself). This time we had an even bigger squad—with Matthew, Josh, Simon, and myself, we had everything we needed to influence the race.

Off we go—and one second in, my chain drops.

The entire peloton passed me, and I had to get off the bike to fix it. I had to close a 10–15 second gap and knew I had to do it quickly or I’d be out of the race. Just before the descent, I managed to catch back on—I was still in it!

From the start, the Program team set a fast pace of 25–26 mph, making it hard for any breakaway to stick. Josh and I stayed near the front to keep visibility on the race, while Matthew conserved energy for the KOM sprint.

Going into the KOM lap, just before the hill, Josh put in a strong pull and I immediately jumped onto his wheel—we got a gap! Just before the hill, Josh was still pushing hard, forcing the Polka Dot leader to close the gap himself before the climb even began. With Matthew on his wheel, we were in a perfect position.

Simon did a great job patroling the front of the peloton, creating a gap behind Matthew. At the base of the hill, we came together as a small group of 5–6 riders, including two of us and the Polka Dot leader.

This time, I didn’t want to wait too long since our competitors knew we were targeting the KOM points. With about 70% of the climb left, I went all-in. It turned out the Polka Dot leader had already burned a big effort closing the gap, and Matthew was able to pass him easily. We secured 1st and 2nd on the climb (3 + 2 points).

And… we had a gap with six riders. It looked promising! We could even see the A field just ahead—but unfortunately, we got neutralized behind them, bringing everything back together.

Round 2 of the KOM was coming up. Josh once again delivered a great lead-out. Matthew stayed on the wheel of the Polka Dot leader and absolutely dropped the hammer, securing another 3 KOM points (5 total). Unfortunately, my chain dropped again on the climb, and I couldn’t contest the sprint.

The rest of the race was calm and ended in a large field sprint.

But what a result! Perfect teamwork means Matthew is now leading the Polka Dot competition with 8 points, the former leader has 7, and I’m in 3rd with 6 points. Based on how we raced today, I feel very confident we can bring this jersey home—and I can’t wait for the next round!

Big thank you to Matthew, Jacob, Simon, and Josh—what a race!

Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup #2 and #3 Photos Gallery

Thanks as always to Marco for documenting this race series. He is on Instagram as @lastlap_images

L&C Cup Race #4 (April 19) - 6:00 AM - 9 Laps

This race report by Matthew Vandivort

With the help of the squad, I had officially done enough to secure the polka dot jersey for last weekend’s race. It’s been several years since I have worn a leaders jersey. So long in fact that the last two jerseys are from race series that no longer exist (RIP Bethel and Rockleigh). Thankfully, TBD was once again showing up in force for the fourth race including Bob, Jacob, former L&C KOM Series winner Roger, and Lucia. Their support was key as we faced a tough fight for KOM points with Pedal Power and Sanba. Sanba in particular had impressive turnout, with the team representing nearly 20% of the field.

The first KOM had shades of race #3. Roger replaced Josh in the leadout train, Lucia subbed in for Simon as sweep, while Bob was once again our horsepower leading into the climb. I went early, hoping to get a jump on 2nd place in the KOM competition. This lead to Jose Blanco (Sanba), who was then 4th in the competition, taking home 3 points for first while I had a very long sprint battle with second place Alejandro Animas (Pedal Power) before securing 2nd in the KOM, extending my lead to two points. The three way battle for points was a blast and we came over the top of the climb with a massive gap to the rest of the field, but no one was inclined to push on for a breakaway.

From there things turned a bit chaotic. There were the usual assortment of breakaway attempts and green jersey sprints. But just as we were set up for the 2nd KOM points sprint, our field was neutralized by our lead moto. Confusion reigned as it was unclear whether we could be set free halfway up the climb. In the end our moto official kept us neutralized over the top, leading to the planned second KOM points being eliminated.

With the KOM competition done for the day, I set about having some fun and working for the team. After a short lived solo breakaway attempt with 2 to go, I aimed to set Jacob up for the field sprint. Unfortunately as we were coming around for the bell there was some argy bargy toward the front of the field with the chain reaction being a slow speed crash on the climb that took Jacob out of contention. With my leadout ambitions busted, I figured I would give it a go for my first field sprint in at least six years (!!).

I held position well over the final climb, but as you can see in this Strava video, I failed to block the inside line and then held my sprint too long and got boxed in. Joseph Ojatson (Ride Ya Bike) put in an awesome move to win solo, while I snuck my way into 7th place. Not bad for someone whose sprinting days are very much in the rearview mirror.

While I was bummed that Jacob didn’t have the chance to sprint, we extended our lead in the KOM competition by a point and taking 7th makes for nice icing on the cake. Overall it was a great day out and huge thanks to Bob, Roger, Lucia and Jacob for the support in race #4 in the series. With the next L&C way out in June, now its time to start building some fitness.