The Hammer Series is a series of

cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sp ...

s 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 The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, th ...

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

in category

2.1 The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scale. The rating is represented by a code made of two or three parts and indicates both the type or style ...

1.1 1.1 may refer to: * 1.1.1.1, a Domain Name System service * 1.1-inch/75-caliber gun * Falcon 9 v1.1 orbital launch vehicle * Trabant 1.1, an automobile * A one-day Category 1 race in the UCI race classifications system * A software version number, ...

. The races consist of three days, with each posing a separate challenge, sprint, climb and

Team Time Trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ( ...

chase. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. Before the cancellation, Velon had planned on expanding the series, including a new event that was to be held in February in

Pereira, Colombia Pereira () is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It is located in the foothills of the Andes in a coffee-producing area of Colombia officially known as the " Coffee Axis". Pereira, alongside the rest of the Coffee Axis, fo ...

that featured both men's and women's races.

Winners

References

External links

* Cycle races in the Netherlands Recurring sporting events established in 2017 UCI Europe Tour races {{cycling-race-stub