Team Jumbo-Visma led from start to finish in Sunday’s Hammer Chase to seal victory at Hammer Stavanger, while CCC Team won the Hammer Chase.
Starting with a 30” advantage, the five-man selection of Amund Grøndahl Jansen, Dylan Groenewegen, Pascal Eenkhorn, Jonas Vingegaard and Mike Teunissen rode flawlessly over three laps of the 16.3km circuit to maintain the gap to Team Sunweb, their closest rivals for the overall title.
Team Sunweb rode strongly and made some inroads in the closing kilometres but finished 17” down on Team Jumbo-Visma, partly because the victors had time to celebrate on the finish straight.
It was CCC Team who recorded the fastest time on the day in 53’43”, with Team INEOS second-fastest, 19” down, and Team Sunweb third best, 1’09” back.
CCC Team went on a superb charge in the second half of the race, battling for the final place on the Hammer Chase podium with Team INEOS and Mitchelton-SCOTT.
Last year’s champions Mitchelton-SCOTT, who produced a masterclass here last year, endured a more challenging day as an early mechanical for Alexander Edmondson held up their progress, allowing Deceuninck – Quick-Step to storm past.
CCC Team clocked the fastest time on the day and won the Hammer Chase (Photo: Karen M Edwards)
But while the racing behind them was fierce, Team Jumbo-Visma never loosened their grip on the Hammer Stavanger crown.
Victory in Friday’s Hammer Climb, sixth in Saturday’s Hammer Sprint, and fifth in the Hammer Chase was enough to seal the title.
Here are the highlights of a superb Hammer Chase in Norway as @JumboVismaRoad secure the @HammerStavanger victory 🍾🍾🍾 pic.twitter.com/bdtsBfDAnz
— Hammer Series (@HammerSeries) May 26, 2019
Earlier on in the runner-up group, it was EF Pro Cycling who went fastest, to secure ninth place overall at Hammer Stavanger and fourth in the Hammer Chase.
The American team raced around the course in 55’59”, pushed all the way by a stunning ride from Riwal Readynez Cycling Team, who finished just six seconds down. UAE Team Emirates, having started first, eventually finished third in a time of 56’39”.
Team Jumbo-Visma DS, Frans Maassen: "I’m very proud. I hoped for this but we also knew it wasn’t going to be easy. On paper, we didn’t have our best time trialists here but the riders were really motivated and they started out very fast in the first 10 km. I’m proud of how we raced these three days at Hammer Stavanger. The guys gave their all they fought for every meter. It was really great to see this team spirit. It’s also very nice to win here in Norway for our sponsor Visma."
The next installment of Hammer Series racing is coming up soon at Hammer Limburg, 7-9 June.
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