About Hammer Series

In 2019, Team Jumbo-Visma blazed a trail to ultimate victory when they were crowned Hammer Series Champions.

This year, the Hammer Series returns on the following dates:

• Hammer Stavanger, Norway, May 22-22

• Hammer Hong Kong, October 10-11

In Norway, there will be a Hammer Climb, a Hammer Sprint and a Hammer Chase on consecutive dates. In Hong Kong, there a Hammer Sprint and a Hammer Chase await the riders.

Teams accumulate points in Norway and Hong Kong. The team with most points at the end of Hammer Hong Kong will be crowned the Hammer Series Winners 2020.

Points are awarded from each race as follows:

Is Hammer Series the same as a stage race?

No. Traditional cycling races have individual riders as stage and general classification winners. At the Hammer Series, it’s all about team performance and crowning the best team in professional cycling.

A Hammer race consist of three disciplines; the Hammer Climb, Sprint and Chase. All of which take place on a short circuit, covered multiple times.

In the Hammer Climb and Hammer Sprint, the riders fight for points for their teams every time they cross the finish line. At the end of each day, the team with most points combined wins the discipline.

The Hammer Chase is a team time trial pursuit. The team topping the leaderboard after the first two disciplines starts first with the other teams following at a fixed time interval. The first team to cross the finish line for the final time wins the overall Hammer race.

How does the Hammer Climb work?

The racing takes place on a short circuit covered multiple times. The finish line is located on top of a climb, which guarantees a thrilling uphill sprint between the riders in order to score points to their teams. Each lap offers points to the first 10 riders crossing the line.

The team with the most points at the end of the race will win the Hammer Climb.

And the Hammer Sprint?

Just like the Hammer Climb, the Hammer Sprint also takes place over multiple laps on a short circuit. This time however, the terrain is predominantly flat, which favors the strong rouleurs and fast sprinters. Once again, there are points up for grabs every time the riders cross the finish line.

At the end of the race, the team with the most points will win the Hammer Sprint.

And finally, the Hammer Chase?

This is the decisive race. It’s a team time trial pursuit taking place over several laps on a short circuit.

The teams will be ranked by adding together their scores from the first two races. The higher a team is on the leaderboard after the first two disciplines, the higher they are placed on the start line for the final day.

For safety, the Hammer Chase teams are split into two starting groups: the top half will go into Finalist Group, and bottom half will go into the Runner-up Group.

Teams in each group will set off at fixed time intervals decided by their ranking based on performance in the previous days' racing.

Teams in the Runner-Up Group can challenge for the Hammer Chase win, but not the overall race victory. The team which completes the Hammer Chase in the fastest time will win the Hammer Chase regardless of the group they started in.

Teams in the Finalist Group challenge for the overall victory in the race. The highest ranked team after the first two days of racing, starts the first. Number two then follows at the fixed time interval and so on. The team which crosses the finishing first in the Finalist Group will be the winner of that Hammer race.

In the Hammer Chase, commissaires use a series of flags to control the race:

• Yellow: first warning

• Orange: final warning

• Green: warning over

• Red: disqualified

Who runs the Hammer Series?

The Hammer Series is being developed by Velon, which produces live rider data, videos and social media content designed to increase engagement with professional cycling.

The goal is to grow the Hammer Series into a global series of city hub-based races that builds upon the appeal of premium professional cycling and serves as a communications platform for host cities to promote and demonstrate initiatives in active lifestyle, mobility and sports tourism.

For more information, please email:

Business opportunities: Auret van Zyl, Managing Director, Velon

Press, PR & Marketing: Mikkel Condé, Velon