Cycling’s Hammer Series is to roll into Hong Kong in October with one of the men behind the novel all-action format predicting it could become the two-wheeled version of Twenty20 cricket.
The three-day, multidiscipline team event was successfully tested in the Netherlands last year, where Team Sky claimed a thrilling one-second victory and three million people watched the competition in Limburg online.
Limburg is to host another Hammer event in June as part of a series that will start in Stavanger, Norway, next month and culminate around the streets of Hong Kong.
The Hammer Series, contested by five-rider teams, is broken down into a climbing day, a sprint day and concludes in a pursuit, in which the leading team from the first two days sets off first.
Last year, Team Sky held off Sunweb in a thrilling chase.
While it might concern traditionalists brought up on Grand Tours and one-day classics, Graham Bartlett, CEO of Hammers cofounders Velon, believes the Hammer format offers a bit of everything and can engage a new breed of cycle fans.
“There is plenty of space for all different flavors,” Bartlett said at his London office. “We want to be very clear ... we are not trying to replace anybody’s position here, we are trying to add something new to the mix.”
“Hammer was designed specifically to do something different, but also to respect the three key skill sets in the sport: sprinting, climbing and time-trialling.”
“We wanted to emphasize the team element, because cycling is a team event at heart, and we want to celebrate that,” he added.
Marketing and media company Velon works closely with UCI World Tour teams, race organizers and broadcasters, and is best-known for providing live rider data and onboard video.
The series is another way of making cycling more digestible to a wider audience, Bartlett said.
Last year’s Limburg event attracted a cumulative 3.2 million viewers on social media sites Facebook and YouTube.
“The key thing was to make it an authentic event with impactful racing that really matters,” Bartlett said. “We were blown away by how seriously the teams took it last year. It was full gas every day for three days.”
“Think of the passion of Twenty20 cricket, IPL [Indian Premier League cricket] and Ryder Cup, and the engagement the fans have with those events. The important thing was that teams and riders liked it,” he added.
Team Sky is to be joined in this year’s series by world champion Peter Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team, while Team Sunweb, second last year, are fully committed to the races.
The exact nature of the Hong Kong finale is yet to be revealed, but Bartlett promised a “big finish” to the season.
UAE Team Emirates team manager Carlo Sarroni said the Hammer race could help establish Hong Kong on the UCI cycling map.
“Hong Kong has everything to become an important appointment in the world cycling calendar and the Hammer Series leg will be the best way to make a huge step towards this goal,” Sarroni said.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS