Hammer Series returns to cycling heartland, Limburg, in the Netherlands, along with adding a second weekend in Stavanger, Norway.
The Hammer Series, a ground-breaking three-day pro cycling series has officially announced its return to cycling's heartland, Limburg, in the Netherlands on 1-3 June 2018 and the addition of a second race in the series, Hammer Stavanger, taking place between 25-27 May in Norway's third-largest urban area.
Following an exciting inaugural event in 2017, which was watched by more than three million cycling fans on social media channels alone, the Hammer Series now kicks off the 2018 season with two back-to-back races.
Each race sees three days of intense competition (Hammer Climb, Hammer Sprint, Hammer Chase), providing close-up thrills for cycling fans in an innovative team-versus-team format designed for digital and broadcast viewing. Unlike traditional stage-based races in which individual riders take to the podium, the Hammer Series pits teams of five riders against each other over extremely testing courses to determine the best team.
Yves Lampaert was one of the Quick-Step Floors riders who were at the start of the inaugural Hammer Series last season and this unique concept made a big impression on the current Belgian ITT Champion.
"We didn't know what to expect, because it was something completely new, but it turned out to be a great and hard-fought competition, which showed why cycling is, above anything else, a team sport. I'm sure fans found these short but exciting races appealing and they enjoyed every moment of it, especially the spectacular time trial which was thrilling and came down to the wire. With the series expanded to two races this year, I hope more and more fans will come to watch the action and cheers for us, be it in the Netherlands or Norway."
Photo: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
Yves Lampaert 
