With four days until the Hammer Series returns, the start list for Hammer Stavanger and Hammer Limburg is taking shape with some big names put forward by the competing teams.
Racing for Quick-Step Floors in Stavanger and having one of the seasons of his life is former Paris-Roubaix winner and current Tour of Flanders champion Niki Terpstra. With such a strong one-day racing pedigree, the Belgian team will be hoping to add Hammer victory to the successes they have recorded in the opening to their season.
For the following weekend in Limburg, Tom Dumoulin, Team Sunweb, returns, following his defence of the Maglia Rosa at the Giro d’Italia. BMC Racing Team will line up a full-strength squad including Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet and Richie Porte. John Degenkolb will lead Trek-Segafredo.
Roy Hegreberg, Race Director, Hammer Stavanger, said: “The line-up of riders taking part in Hammer Stavanger is fantastic. To have multiple national champions mixing it up with Classics riders in the forms of their lives should make for really exciting racing. I’m confident the riders will enjoy riding on the very best roads Stavanger has to offer and it will make a memorable experience for fans and viewers alike.”
I certainly think so! If you didn’t catch the Hammer Series last time it was awesomely amazing with a nail biting and very close finish which crowns Team Sky champs.
All three races taking place this year will be streamed live on social media, with Facebook, Twitter and DailyMotion all hosting video feeds. This means that unlike other pro-cycling races, fans anywhere in the world will be able to watch the Hammer Series live, on any device and without being charged for access. To watch the action from Hammer Stavanger, the first race in the season, head to https://www.facebook.com/hammerseries/, https://twitter.com/hammerseries and http://www.dailymotion.com/hammerseries
If you’ve never seen the Hammer Series before and want to know how it works.. well, you better get a cup of tea and read the below, if you have and you just want to see some nice photo’s just skip down to the bottom of the page. if all of that is just simply too much, here is a video explaining it all. Believe me, the racing is infinitely better than the video!
Teams are made up of seven riders, but they can field only five riders in each of the three races. While traditional cycling races have individual riders as stage and classification winners, the Hammer Series is all about teams.
The Hammer Climb and Hammer Sprint are points races in which riders will attempt to win points for their team.
Each team’s finishing positions from days one and two are combined to determine their starting place on day three’s Hammer Chase, a team pursuit against the clock.
HAMMER CLIMB
It takes place over multiple laps of a short circuit. On every lap, riders will earn points for their teams depending on their position when they cross the line. The higher the position, the more points. The team with the most points will win the Hammer Climb.
HAMMER SPRINT
Again, it takes place over multiple laps of a short circuit and riders can earn points for their teams by placing as high as possible at the end of each lap. The team with the most points will win the Hammer Sprint.
HAMMER CHASE
This is the decisive race. It is a team pursuit over several laps of a circuit. The participating teams will be ranked by adding together their positions in the first two races, with the lowest total being the top team.
For safety, they will then be split into two groups: the top half will go into Finalist Group, and bottom half will go into Runner-Up Group. Teams in the Finalist Group can challenge for both victory in the Hammer Chase and overall Hammer Series event. Teams in the Runner-Up Group can challenge for the Hammer Chase win, but not overall victory.
Teams in each group will set off at fixed time intervals decided by their ranking.
The team who complete the time trial in the fastest time will be winners of the Hammer Chase.
The team who cross the finish line first in the Finalist Group will be the winner of that Hammer Series event.
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The coachbuilt Sporthome by McLaren is based on a long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 316 2.1 with manual transmission. It was commissioned by Sir Bradley in 2014 and while finished in white, has been vinyl wrapped in Team Wiggins colours of blue with chromed wing mirrors and bull bar and 8-spoke alloy wheels AND it’s only covered 5,500 miles!
Kinda, yeah. Almost cyclists will share this issue I have, my thighs are generally too big for the jeans which match my waist, meaning I have to make a compromise somewhere, generally going a size or two up.
These jeans are a little bit smart, they let your legs breath out and do a fairly good job at resisting the wind blowing through them and freezing your thighs.
Well, it’s all relative really, isn’t it? Ever heard the saying ‘buy cheap buy twice’? Well that really is true. You could buy cheaper jeans over and over and end up spending more money than what you would than if you spent your money on a decent pair.
My everyday jeans are Levi’s. I buy them because they’re durable, wear well and I know I’ll get my money’s worth out of them.
Have you ever been on a long summer ride and at your half way point had the thought “I really fancy a beer, there’s nothing I want more right now than a beer. I can’t I’m cycling, I cannot drink and ride, that final climb will kill me off. Better got for the coffee instead.” It’s the right and safe choice.
With no chemicals, artificial colourings, aromas or indeed any other additives, this cold, crisp beer will help you conquer that final climb with vigour… Apparently.
For many this is a dream of a life time, the possibility of racing all over the world starting from your very own living room, or spare room, or garage, or just about wherever you could fit a tablet, phone or a laptop and hook it up to your turbo trainer and ZWIFT.
