Carlos Betancur And Movistar Dominate Hammer Series Stage 1

Team Movistar used a dominant performance from Carlos Betancur in the Hammer Climb to grab a huge opening-day lead in the inaugural Hammer Series on Friday in Limburg, Netherlands.

Jun 2, 2017 by Travis Miller

Carlos Betancur And Movistar Dominate Hammer Series Stage 1

Team Movistar used a dominant performance from Carlos Betancur in the Hammer Climb to grab a huge opening-day lead in the inaugural Hammer Series on Friday in Limburg, Netherlands. Movistar ended the day with 144.8 points, almost 50 ahead of Sunweb's 98.9. After crashing in the final laps, Tao Geoghegan Hart recovered well for Team Sky to keep them in third with 84.7.

The race began with immediate attacks off the front. The live dashboard cams from the Quick-Step Floors car gave a great shot before the race of Tom Steels on the radio sending the message to his riders that this race was going to be aggressive from the start. "No Tactics. Just full gas". His words rang true as the peloton instantly cracked in the first few kilometers. The new format of the Hammer Series proved to be as exciting as we all hoped!

Moving into the third lap, a group of five detached themselves from the peloton with double points at stake. Betancur sprinted ahead to win the first double climbing points of the day. Geoghegan Hart crossed in second, and Giro d'Italia champ Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) made his presence felt in third.

Under the pressure of Betancur, teams began to slip in the standings as Movistar built their lead (50.1) through the legs of their Columbian climber. Team Sky was holding their own with Geoghegan Hart picking up more second-place points to raise their total to 44 after five laps. Disaster struck for Sky on lap seven when Geoghegan Hart crashed on the descent. He clipped a pedal around a corner, and with the high pace of the leaders, there was a slim chance he would contend for anymore significant points.

The race was pretty steady through lap 10. Betancur took most of the sprints at the top of the climb, and the remaining riders exchanged finishing places behind. Descending off the climb on lap 10, Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) made the first serious attack. The penultimate lap began to get cagey, which allowed chasers to bridge back. Gianluca Brambilla (Quick-Step Floors) also made an attack of his own, but he was reeled back in.

The moment the group of nine regrouped, Victor Campenaerts (LottoNL-Jumbo) sprinted past. The chasers didn't organize quickly, which allowed Campenaerts to open a significant gap. Unfortunately for him, Betancur launched out of the chase group and quickly closed him down. There was no hesitation, and Betancur easily moved past to win the double points at stake on the final lap.

The series continues on Saturday with the Hammer Sprint, an eight-lap points race on a flat, 12.4km circuit that starts and finishes at Sportzone Limburg.