The Hammer Chase drew the curtain over the spectacular three-day event.
Quick-Step Floors made inroads in the general classification of the inaugural Hammer Stavanger on the final day, a 48.7km-long team time trial held over a 16.23km circuit which the riders had to cover three times.
Part of the strong group 1 after two solid displays in the Hammer Climb and the Hammer Sprint respectively, our five-man squad consisting of Kasper Asgreen, Tim Declercq, Fabio Jakobsen, Davide Martinelli and Niki Terpstra was sitting fifth in the overall standings ahead of the Hammer Chase and enjoyed a good start, thanks to which Quick-Step Floors increased the advantage over the next team in the rankings, while also closing the gap on the fourth-placed team.
Helped also by a crash which took several Team Sky riders to the ground, but also by their impressive ride that saw the quintet average more than 50km/h, our outfit moved up a place in the classification by the time they came over the line and finished the race won by Mitchelton-Scott in fourth position.
Next week, between 1-3 June, the Hammer Series will move to the Netherlands, in Limburg, a region which has strong connections with cycling, having hosted several editions of the World Championships.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen/ Getty Images
