DAY 1 HAMMER CLIMB

The first day of the first Hammer series in Limburg is the climbers’ stage and covers 11 laps of a 7km course, meaning 77km and two hours of action. The twist is that points are scored on the finish line at the top of the climb on each lap. Riders earn points down to 10th place. Crucially, everyone in the team’s points count towards the total. The winner is the team with the most accumulated points of all five riders at the end of the day. Basically it’s a team points race.

Making things a little more interesting is the fact that double points will be awarded on laps three, seven and 10. That throws up a conundrum: make a consistent effort to collect points or target the opportunities yielding the greatest reward.

TACTICAL EXPLAINER

Five riders are chosen from a squad of seven, meaning the obvious selection is to keep any sprinter(s) for the second day. Even if a rider wins points each lap but another team has more riders consistently placing, the advantage will probably go to the team with more riders scoring. For example, 2nd and 7th add up to more points than 1st. Consistently being at the front over the climbs is easier than sprinting on the flat as it will be more selective and the lead-out is less vital. Putting multiple riders from your team in a break is a good scenario, but that’s easier said than done. A lot of teams will be aggressive throughout.