Q&A GRAHAM BARTLETT

Procycling’s Edward Pickering sat down with the Velon CEO to find out more about the long-term aims of the Hammer series and why he believes this novel format will identify the best team in the world

What are you trying to achieve with the Hammer Series?

The central premise of what we’re trying to achieve with the points system is that you want to have a really fantastic race-off on the final day. You want everybody chasing for the line, and within reason, still in the mix to potentially win it so the outcome is uncertain.

Can you design that?

Obviously not. It’s sport. It’s unpredictable, which is the beauty of it. It’s a bit like the football playoffs, where you have to be in the top four to make the playoffs and then the playoffs create their own lottery. Given the time gaps and the points system, you’re not going to get the team in last place still going to win it, unless they are the most amazing chase team. Which is fair enough because if you haven’t performed on the first two days, if you’re that far behind, you won’t make it up. You still want to finish up the ladder, but you’re not necessarily going to win it. But you want people to think, well actually teams number five, six and seven could still close that gap, because they’re better at chasing, pursuiting. And you never know. What we’re trying to set up, really, is a crescendo. It’s very easy. On the first day you climb. On the second day you sprint. On the third day you chase. And the winner is the first one over the line. Even my daughter understands that and she’s only four. The DSs are all looking at this and asking, how are we going to handle this?

Are you a cycling fan?

No. I won’t lie to you. I’m not a die-hard fan, though I’ve met many of them. I love sport. And I like cycling. But my definition of a fan is that you’ve got to have a level of commitment and passion over and above the Tour or the Giro. Because it’s my business, I’m quite detached from that passion. I don’t call myself a fan because that’s disrespectful to the people who really are fans. I work very hard to understand what those fans are looking at; what they need. It’s good to do that and not be one yourself. If you’re trying to create something, you’re looking at how it’s going to appeal. I learned this in my Nike days, and Nike are very, very good at this. They understand and look at their consumer but they don’t cross over and become one, because then you become blinded and subjective. Without the passion and fans, sport is nothing. People kid themselves that it doesn’t matter but it does. Sport is there for the fans, and the minute you lose sight of that, you’re in trouble.

What do you like about cycling?

There are several unique things cycling has that you don’t find in any other sport. The ability to be so close to the heroes of the sport, literally touching distance, is quite unique. And the accessibility of these riders. I hope that stays in the sport because that’s gone from a lot of other sports now. It’s very important. It’s a fantastic “me too” sport. Anybody can ride a bike. Anybody can go and ride on the same roads as their heroes. You can go and ride the Kwaremont on your bike. If you play tennis, you’re never going to play on centre court.

I don’t think it necessarily needs to change. There are a lot of great things about cycling. It can stay where it is. But there are certain things you can look at. You can say, what do you want? What is your objective? If you’re a fan of the sport, do you want more people to be fans of the sport or do you want fewer? I would hope if you’re a true fan of the sport, you’d want more. Because if you care about it, you want it to do better and you want more people to like it. You need to appeal to a younger audience, you need to bring the race organisers and teams together for a collective model and the third thing is that you need a story. There are great races in cycling. But they sit on their own. And in sport, everybody wants a beginning, a middle and an end. You want a season. Cycling has beautiful complexity. The Ardennes Classics are not the same as the other Classics and so on. They are very different, and you need different skill sets to win them. Then you have the Grand Tours. It’s not like you can easily weave it together in one holistic model. The UCI have the WorldTour and really that’s a badge of being at the top level, but it doesn’t connect as a series. In any sport you are going to attract more fans if you can show what’s going to happen next week is relevant to what happened this week and to what happens the week after. No. No. It can be done. It’s a challenge but it can definitely be done. There are many levels of races. All are different and have their own beauty. But you can link them together and make them relevant to each other. We don’t own the races. The races belong to the race organisers. So if RCS and ASO and Flanders Classics want to join together for a series from their races that’s up to them. They are their races. We’re not campaigning for that. Our business is our teams and we wanted to create a team format for our event, because it doesn’t exist at the moment. Cycling is a team sport and we don’t have a team event other than the world championships TTT. We think the sport should celebrate its team ethic and the team position, and have a series of races which tell you the best team is. In Limburg we won’t say X rider won. We’ll say X team won. Because they won over those three days. We wanted to create a format, one, that you could connect together. So each time you see a Hammer race it will be held over three days. There’ll be a sprint day, a climbing day and a chase day. Those are the core disciplines of the sport. And you’ll follow the series through. That’s what we’re aiming to do, to put that there as a genuine connected series of a consistent format that people will understand and grasp, and, I hope, enjoy and be excited by. And create this narrative that unfolds through a season. The narrative is: who is the best team in the world? The best team in the world, according to the UCI, is Movistar. They are going to ride the Hammer Series. And the great quote they came out with was: “You set the series up to decide who the best team in the world is. We’re the best team in the world. And we’re going to come and prove it.” I would never say that! But let’s see. If you want to know who the best team in the world is, go and prove it on the road. You’ve got to sprint, and you’ve got to climb and

There are great races in cycling, but they sit on their own. And in sport everybody wants a beginning, a middle and an end. You want a season

you’ve got to chase. If you’re going to be the best team, you’d better be the best allround team. Who’s the best team? Let’s find out. If you talk to the riders, they’ll say the same thing. Cycling is a team sport. Yet at the end you get one guy on the podium. A lot of riders are saying now, it’s wonderful to have a team event to really show how we work as a unit.

Is your challenge of trying to discover who the best team in the world is not rendered complex by the fact that the Tour, the Giro, Classics and Worlds will probably still remain the biggest cycling events in the world?

I think there’s room for lots of events. But all the events you listed, except the worlds TTT, are not team events. We’re trying to create something that is a team event. We’re not trying to compete with any of those. You’d be crazy if you did. We’re trying to create something that is different and new and does something different to what they are doing. What we’re trying to do, in among all that, is have a connected position. One strand among others which shows you one thing. It wasn’t so long ago that the Champions League [European Cup] was eight teams. The Champions League has not replaced the Premier League, or La Liga, in fact it’s made them more popular. More people watching cycling, and cycling events: how does that do anything other than help the great races that are already there?

The Tour and Classics are untouchable, but have you identified other parts of the season where races might be lowhanging fruit?

We’re not in competition with any race. Is the Dauphiné competing with the Tour de Suisse? I would argue that it is not. We’re not trying to compete with any race by overlapping. Our race will go on at the same time as other races, just as some weekends you get four races at once. We’re trying to put something there as an alternative. If you’d rather watch something else, watch something else.

Who designed Hammer?

It was a combination of people. Riders, fans, teams, me, the organisations, sports business agencies… it was a whole host of people.

Is there anybody in particular whose fingerprints are on it?

There’s nobody who should get individual credit for it. And some of these ideas go back years. Some elements have been around for years. We’ve borrowed, tweaked and changed.

Where did the name come from?

It was developed with a brand agency here in London. The brief that we gave them was that we wanted something unique, that didn’t relate to normal race names. We wanted something that spoke to the nature of it. We’re really pleased with it.

Limburg sounds like a football fan park.

We want to create a festival atmosphere. The city and province have invested a lot of money. It’s a fantastic amphitheatre. It’s got this outdoor road track which the pros will ride on. You’ve got three days of racing. It stays in the same place and doesn’t move around. If you stand on the side of the road you’ll see the riders at least seven times.

The press release says whoever wins is the best team in the world. Are they?

Well you have to be the best team on the day. What we’re looking to do is build a series.

In the chase, what happens logistically when three, four or five teams come together at the finish?

Same as in any race. You’re not allowed to. You can’t draft.

But in a team time trial, you’ll only get two teams, maximum three teams coming together, and I’ve never seen three teams come together. This is, in a way, designed for a larger number of teams to come together.

The finish will be on a wide stretch, but it’s regulated because it’s dangerous for everybody to ride in the same space. You can’t draft.

What are you best at when you win a Hammer race?

You’re the best all-round team.

Are you concerned there are no individual standings?

I think there are lots of individual standings in cycling already. We want to promote the team ethic.

What if Hammer doesn’t come off?

We keep working on it until we get it right. We’ve spent a lot of time getting it to where it is. I hope there’s a Hammer series loved by a huge body of cycling fans.

Cycling is a team sport for individuals. Hammer makes it a team sport for teams We want to create a festival atmosphere. You'll see the riders at least seven times