Race Report: 2025 Winters NCNCA Masters District Championships Criterium - Men’s 35-39 Cat 1-4
Date: August 23, 2025
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa, Michael Matthews, Ryan Dyke
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa (2/16)
Course: L-shaped short course in downtown Winters. 50 min race
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15561687530
Nutrition: I had half a bottle with a caffeine carb mix, which wasn’t enough in the nearly 99°F heat
Recap: Two groups raced together (35–39 and 40–44), with a total of 33 riders. The 40–44 category had blue tape on their numbers, but it was printed poorly and tapes were flying around the course.
The course wasn’t very technical, just six corners in an L-shaped layout through downtown Winters. We started pretty fast, and the first couple of laps were sketchy for me as I tried to get comfortable with the corners. After about 5–6 minutes, Michael attacked and got a solid gap for a couple of laps before being caught. Ryan and I followed the wheels and rested.
The heat was brutal nearly 99°F and my heart rate was at the limit. After 10 minutes, one guy attacked. We let him go since it was still early in the race and nobody wanted to chase. The peloton rolled pretty smoothly for most of the race with no major attacks. The breakaway rider held about a 10-second gap, and we could see him on the long stretch of the course. I figured he’d eventually get caught.
Cycle Sport and Dolce Vita had the largest squads, but they never organized a chase. With nine laps to go, the breakaway rider still had ~10 seconds. I didn’t want to burn matches chasing at that point I was cooked, just hanging onto wheels and covering small moves. My plan was to focus on positioning for the final lap and give it everything before the last corner.
With two laps to go, we cut the gap down to about 5 seconds. Looking back, that was probably the best chance to go all-in and try for the win, but I gambled that the big teams would close it down. They didn’t. On the last lap, I was well-positioned and sprinted before the final corner to take 2nd place.
The breakaway rider held on to win after nearly 40 minutes solo, averaging 390W. A well-deserved victory.
