12 WorldTour teams will take part in Hammer Series curtain raiser
Image 1 of 6
Louis Meintjes in Dimension Data's new jersey(Image credit: Dimension Data)
Dimension Data collect a team prize(Image credit: Getty Images)
Quick-Step Floors wins Hammer Series Limburg(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mitchelton-Scott claim Hammer Stavanger(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Team Sky celebrate their Hammer Series win.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Hammer Series peloton comes across the finish line.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Dimension Data will make their Hammer Series debut at this year’s first event in Norway alongside 11 other WorldTour teams. The South African team will compete alongside Team Sky and Deceuninck-QuickStep, as well as last year's Hammer Series winners, Mitchelton-Scott.
Rolf Aldag, head of sports performance at Dimension Data, sees the second Hammer Stavanger event as a good opportunity for his riders.
"We watched the events last year and it was an interesting concept that was well received by the fans," Aldag said. "To be part of the action this year will be good for our fan base, particularly those in Norway, as Edvald Boasson Hagen and young Rasmus Tiller will get to race on familiar roads once again."
The Hammer Series starts in Stavanger, Norway, and runs from May 24-26 before moving onto Limburg, Netherlands June 7-9 and then concludes in Hong Kong October 12-13.
The 16 squads compete in a team-vs-team structure across three disciplines: the Hammer Climb, Hammer Sprint and the concluding Hammer Chase, with one event per day.
Last year, 8.3 million people watched the Hammer Series events online and on the live stream, and the 2019 series will be available on the same platforms.
Alongside the WorldTour outfits, Danish team Riwal Readynez will be showcasing some of the region's very best talent as a representative of not just Danish cycling but Scandinavia as a whole.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"We are a Danish team who recently underwent big changes in our advancement to Pro Continental level," said Steffen Kromann, CEO of Riwal Readynez Cycling Team. "We have expanded our identity from solely Danish to Scandinavian, and being the highest-ranked professional cycling team from the Nordic regions, it's especially exciting to be racing on home turf in Norway."
In 2018, Mitchelton-Scott won the Hammer Stavanger event on their way to being crowned overall Hammer Series winners.
Teams for Hammer Stavanger 2019: Bora-Hansgrohe, CCC Team, Deceuninck-QuickStep, Delko Marseille Provence, EF Education First, Israel Cycling Academy, Lotto Soudal, Mitchelton-Scott, Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane, Riwal-Readynez Cycling Team, Dimension Data, Team Jumbo-Visma, Team Sky, Team Sunweb, Trek-Segafredo, UAE Team Emirates
Cyclingnews is proud to introduce the first episode of our Cyclingnews Podcast Women's Edition, brought to you by Sportful, Pinarello and Floyd's of Leadville.
