Hammer Series

Hammer Series

Race details
Date	May–October
Region	Limburg, Netherlands (2017–) Stavanger, Norway (2018–) Hong Kong (2018–)
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI Asia Tour UCI Europe Tour
Type	Stage race
Organiser	Velon CC
Web site	hammerseries.com
History
First edition	2017 (2017)
First winner	Team Sky
Most wins	Soudal–Quick-Step Team Jayco–AlUla (2 wins)
Most recent	Deceuninck–Quick-Step

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.

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	Limburg	Movistar Team	Trek–Segafredo	Team Sky	Team Sky	Team Sky
2018	25–27 May	Stavanger	Mitchelton–Scott	Mitchelton–Scott	Mitchelton–Scott	Mitchelton–Scott	Mitchelton–Scott
	1–3 June	Limburg	Bahrain–Merida	Mitchelton–Scott	Mitchelton–Scott	Quick-Step Floors
	14 October	Hong Kong	Not held	Mitchelton–Scott	Team Sunweb	Mitchelton–Scott
2019	24–26 May	Stavanger	Team Jumbo–Visma	Deceuninck–Quick-Step	CCC Team	Team Jumbo–Visma	Team Jumbo–Visma
	7–9 June	Limburg	Deceuninck–Quick-Step	Deceuninck–Quick-Step	Mitchelton–Scott	Deceuninck–Quick-Step
	12–13 October	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.

External links

• Official website