The Hammer Series continues to expand and in 2020, the revolutionary team-vs-team race series will kick off in Colombia, bringing the all-out racing to some of the world’s most passionate cycling fans.
The new race Hammer Colombia will debut February 7-9, 2020 and will include the first women’s Hammer Series event taking place on the same days as the men’s. Both races will follow the unique Hammer format, with Climb, Sprint and Chase disciplines over three days.
The Colombian Sports Ministry, Coldeportes, and the Ministry of Tourism will bring the Hammer Series to the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia and the first edition of Hammer Colombia will be held in Pereira, the capital city of the department of Risaralda. Together with Quindio and Caldas, this region is known as the “Coffee Triangle”. In 2021 and 2022, Hammer Colombia will take place in Quindío and Caldas, respectively, showing off the beautiful scenery and landscape in this famous coffee region.
Ernesto Lucena, Director of Coldeportes:
“The prestige of Colombia as a powerful country of sports is a reference that today we are trying to strengthen through this type of events such as the Hammer Series. It is a perfect opportunity to show our kindness to the world, especially as a destination for cycling races. Due to the Hammer Series we can say that Colombia is a land of athletes.”
Graham Bartlett, CEO of Velon:
“Colombia is the perfect stage for a Hammer race and there's huge excitement among the teams and riders to race Hammer in such a beautiful, dramatic region of the country. With partners in the Ministry of Sport and Ministry of Tourism we know we can create the most spectacular race possible. Hammer racing goes from strength to strength and we’re particularly proud to announce a women’s race in addition to the men’s. For a long time we’ve wanted to offer a Hammer race for women and with such strong backing from our hosts in Colombia we’ve finally been able to achieve that. We’re all working to make Hammer Colombia a game-changer in pro-road cycling for the fans.”
After the inaugural event in the Netherlands in 2017, the Hammer Series has continued to expand around the globe to include events in Norway, Hong Kong and now Colombia. Last year, Hammer Series online videos had more than 8.3 million views, confirming its popularity among fans.
Hammer is coming to Pereira in 2020
The opening Hammer event of the 2019 season, Hammer Stavanger in Norway, took place in May and was won by Team Jumbo Visma. The second event, Hammer Limburg in the Netherlands, was staged last weekend, with Deceuninck - Quick-Step beating off their rivals to take top spot.
Between Stavanger and Limburg this year, the total number of online video views has reached 10 million and continues to rise as fans watch the action on demand. In addition to the live stream, all Hammer races are broadcast in more than 140 countries worldwide.
Esteban Chaves, Mitchelton-SCOTT:
“I’m super excited that Hammer will come to my home country. The Colombian coffee area is one the most beautiful ones we have. Bringing together cycling and coffee is a fantastic mix. I can’t wait to show off my culture, my people, my country, my food and everything beautiful about this place. I’m sure everybody will be very impressed by the fans here in Colombia. They love cycling and I have no doubts that people will go nuts when the racing begins.”
Annamiek van Vleuten, Mitchelton-SCOTT:
“I’ve heard so many great stories about how good cycling is in Colombia so I’m very excited to hear that we will be able to race there from next year. The Hammer Series is a fantastic event with aggressive style racing, which I really like. I’m very happy that we can race in the Hammer Series especially with live broadcasting and streaming online. It’s very good news for women’s cycling.”
Marianne Vos, CCC Liv:
“Exciting news from the Hammer Series. The teams are bringing the action to Colombia and next year men and women will be there to race, so stay tuned!”
Tom Dumoulin, Team Sunweb:
“It's really nice to see the Hammer Series expand to Columbia from next year. Cycling is already super popular in Columbia and coffee goes great with cycling so it seems like a perfect match! The inclusion of a women's event is really cool. I think that the way they race will really suit this concept and we're set for a really exciting edition with this included in Columbia.”
Coryn Rivera, Team Sunweb:
“I’m really excited about the new women’s Hammer Series. It’s really cool for the teams because we’re going all-in as a team and the live stream will be awesome with everyone around the world watching it.”
Leah Kirchmann, Team Sunweb:
“I'm so excited to learn the news about the addition of the women's racing to the Hammer Series in Colombia next year. Women's cycling is already so aggressive and exciting and I think this style will fit perfectly with the Hammer Series format. We can expect some amazing all-out battles between the teams. It’s also great news that everybody will be able to follow the racing via the free Hammer live streams. One of our biggest barriers right now is that it can be difficult to follow us race so this is really perfect for bringing women’s cycling to an international audience and help us earn new fans.”
Fans turn out in their droves for cycling races in Colombia © Getty Images
Lizzie Deignan, Trek-Segafredo:
“I think it’s really positive that women’s racing has been added to the Hammer Series. I’ve been watching the men’s series and I think it’s been really successful so I’m excited that we’re a part of it now too. All-out racing like the Hammer Series will really suit women’s races, obviously we’re used to shorter races anyway but these have a different dynamic. We’re super-aggressive generally so I think it will suit us and we’ll put on a good show. It’s really important that the races will be live streamed, it’s a huge advantage for us that we can race and showcase our sport to the whole world.”
Ivan Sosa, Team INEOS:
“The Colombian fans love the action and excitement of cycling so a race like Hammer will be a big hit. Cycling has a huge fan base here so to have the best riders in the world coming here to race is huge. It will also be great for all the riders to experience the atmosphere and the fans in Colombia.”
Sebastián Henao, Team INEOS:
“The arrival of the Hammer Series is great news for Colombian cycling. We’ve seen the reception the riders got for the Tour of Colombia this year, so to add the Hammer Series to the calendar next year is going to be another step in the right direction. As a Colombian I’m very proud this race is coming and I know the fans will welcome the race with open arms.”
Pascal Ackermann, BORA-hansgrohe:
“Colombia is a big cycling country and nowadays they have some of the best riders in the world. Even though the Hammer Series is the hardest race I’ve ever done, racing it in Colombia will be a bit like racing in paradise I think.”
Alvaro Hodeg, Deceuninck - Quick-Step:
“I’m really happy that we will have a race as great as the Hammer Series in Colombia next year. Especially in such a beautiful region of the country. Cycling and coffee go hand in hand. It will be a spectacular race. See you there!”
Tim Wellens, Lotto Soudal:
“I think it will be a big adventure and I’m curious to see Colombia for the first time. I heard a lot of stories about many, many numbers of fans next to the road so it will be an awesome experience. Every rider drinks coffee on the bus, coffee at breakfast, they have a special coffee machine in their hotel rooms ... almost every cyclist loves coffee!”
Edwin Ávila, Israel Cycling Academy:
"It will be amazing to have a Hammer Series event in Colombia. These races really have it all and they demand the utmost of the riders, as they are very hard to ride. You need power, resistance and speed in order to perform well here. Hammer really checks all the boxes and we miss these kinds of races in Colombia, Maybe that's also why it’s so hard for many Colombian riders to adapt to the European style of racing when they go abroad. I think Hammer could help change this.”
Hammer Colombia will take place in Colombia’s “Coffee Triangle”
About the Hammer Series
The Hammer Series is a unique team vs. team race concept. At each race, the teams compete against each other to score points in three thrilling disciplines of the sport: the Hammer Climb, Hammer Sprint and Hammer Chase. The teams race against each other at events throughout the season and the team with the most points overall at the end of the Series is crowned Hammer Champion with the proven right to call themselves the best team in the world. Hammer Series: Cycling’s Superteam, Proven. In 2019, the Hammer Series consists of three races: Hammer Stavanger (May 24-26), Hammer Limburg (June 7-9) and Hammer Hong Kong (October 13).
Who runs the Hammer Series?
The Hammer Series is being developed by Velon in partnership with Race Organiser Host City partners. Velon’s objective is to bring the excitement of the sport from the teams to the fans with new technology, new races and new ways to enjoy the sport. These include live rider data, action-packed content from the race and an innovative social media approach and a revolutionary new way of racing - all designed to bring the excitement of professional cycling to current and new fans. The Hammer Series is growing into a global series of city hub-based races that builds upon the appeal of premium professional cycling and enables the host cities to promote and demonstrate initiatives in active lifestyle, mobility and sports tourism.
Coffee facts from Colombia
541,183 coffee families
877,144 hectares in coffee
15 Departmental Committees of Coffee Growers
383 Municipal Committees of Coffee Growers
33 Cooperatives of Coffee Growers with 508 points of purchase
1st agricultural export product
1st non-oil or mining export product
6% of the producers are small and on average they have 1.3 hectares
More than 25% of the country's rural population is coffee
22 of the 32 departments of the country are coffee growers
Coffee generates 730 thousand direct jobs (25% of agricultural employment)
In 2018 coffee exports were 12.8 million bags of 60kg
In 2018 coffee exports amounted to 12.8 million bags of coffee 60kgs
In 2018, the FNC exported its coffee to 46 countries in the world
Consumption per person per year
Colombia 2.2kg
United States 4.8kg
Brasil 6.2kg