Hammer Series

The Hammer Series is a series of cycling races organised by Velon in which teams compete against each other to determine the winning formation, instead of individual riders. The races are part of the UCI Asia Tour or UCI Europe Tour in category 2.1 or 1.1.[1] The races consist of three days, with each posing a separate challenge, sprint, climb and Team Time Trial chase.[2] The races are organised by Velon.

Hammer Series
Race details
DateMay–October
RegionLimburg, Netherlands (2017–)
Stavanger, Norway (2018–)
Hong Kong (2018–)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Asia Tour
UCI Europe Tour
TypeStage race
OrganiserVelon CC
Web sitehammerseries.com
History
First edition2017 (2017)
First winnerTeam Sky
Most winsSoudal–Quick-Step
Team Jayco–AlUla
(2 wins)
Most recentDeceuninck–Quick-Step

The name Hammer refers to a pro cycling term “Drop the Hammer”, which is the moment when a rider decides to make a break away from his rivals.[3]

Controversies

Velon's complaint against the UCI

Velon is a cycling media organisation created in 2014 by 11 World Tour teams. The organisation develop media content that is not often available via the UCI. Velon launched the Hammer Series in 2017.[4] On 20 September 2019, Velon, with the unanimous support of its shareholders, submitted an anti-trust Complaint to the European Commission against the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) based on Articles 101 and 102 TFEU.[5]

The complaint taken to the European Commission was over two issues. The first issue is the use of the word “series” in Velon’s Hammer Series.[6]

Amidst their legal battle with the UCI, Velon decided to suspend their 2020 races as they claimed that the UCI was trying to torpedo the race series.[7] Before the cancellation, Velon had planned on expanding the series, including a new event that was to be held in February in Pereira, Colombia that featured both men's and women's races.[8]

Winners
Year Date Location Hammer Races Race winner Series champion
Climb Sprint Chase
2017 2–4 June Netherlands Limburg Spain Movistar Team United States Trek–Segafredo United Kingdom Team Sky United Kingdom Team Sky United Kingdom Team Sky
2018 25–27 May Norway Stavanger Australia Mitchelton–Scott Australia Mitchelton–Scott Australia Mitchelton–Scott Australia Mitchelton–Scott Australia Mitchelton–Scott
1–3 June Netherlands Limburg Bahrain Bahrain–Merida Australia Mitchelton–Scott Australia Mitchelton–Scott Belgium Quick-Step Floors
14 October Hong Kong Hong Kong Not held Australia Mitchelton–Scott Germany Team Sunweb Australia Mitchelton–Scott
2019 24–26 May Norway Stavanger Netherlands Team Jumbo–Visma Belgium Deceuninck–Quick-Step Poland CCC Team Netherlands Team Jumbo–Visma Netherlands Team Jumbo–Visma
7–9 June Netherlands Limburg Belgium Deceuninck–Quick-Step Belgium Deceuninck–Quick-Step Australia Mitchelton–Scott Belgium Deceuninck–Quick-Step
12-13 October Hong Kong Hong Kong Not held Cancelled[9]

References
  1. "Hammer Sportzone Limburg". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  2. "Hammer Series decided on the line between Sky and Sunweb - Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. "New Name, Logo, and Identity for Hammer Series by Designwerk". underconsideration.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  4. "Velon's complaint to the UCI". cyclingbrief.com/. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. "Velon's complaint to the UCI". cyclingbrief.com/. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. "Velon's complaint to the UCI". cyclingbrief.com/. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. "Velon suspends Hammer Series in simmering war with UCI". VeloNews. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  8. "Hammer Series introduces women's event at new Colombian round in 2020". VeloNews. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  9. "Hammer Series Hong Kong canceled, Jumbo-Visma announced 2019 champions". VeloNews. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
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