Velon e Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), organizzatore di Hammer Hong Kong e della Granfondo Hong Kong Cyclothon hanno deciso la cancellazione delle manifestazioni in programma domenica 13 ottobre 2019 a causa degli eventi di protesta in corso a Hong Kong.

«Abbiamo tenuto esame la situazione e deciso di annullare le corse e guardare al 2020, quando la serie Hammer e i migliori ciclisti professionisti del mondo torneranno nelle strade di Hong Kong» spiegano gli organizzatori nel loro comunicato.

L'annuncio di oggi significa che il Team Jumbo-Visma sarà incoronato campione della Hammer Series 2019. Il team olandese è in testa alla classifica dopo aver vinto la Hammer Stavanger e conquistando il secondo posto assoluto alla Hammer Limburg. La Deceuninck - Quick-Step termina al secondo  posto mentre il Team Sunweb  chiude terza.

Graham Bartlett, CEO di Velon, ha dichiarato: «Ci spiace che i fan non possano applaudire le migliori squadre del mondo nella Hammer Series di Hong Kong quest'anno. Siamo già al lavoro per pianificare la Hammer Series del prossimo anno e non vediamo l'ora di tornare a Hong Kong per il grande finale della Hammer Series nel 2020».

ENGLISH VERSION

Velon and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the organiser of Hammer Hong Kong and the mass participation Hong Kong Cyclothon, regret to inform that the decision has been taken not to stage the two events on Sunday, October 13, 2019 because of the ongoing events in Hong Kong.

We have been keeping matters under close review and it has now been decided that the best course of action is to halt preparations and look to 2020 when the Hammer Series and the world’s top professional cyclists will return to the streets of Hong Kong.

Today’s announcement means that Team Jumbo-Visma will be crowned overall Hammer Series Champions of 2019. The Dutch team tops the leaderboard after winning Hammer Stavanger and taking second place overall in Hammer Limburg. Deceuninck - Quick-Step finishes second after their victory in Hammer Limburg, while Team Sunweb ends this year’s Hammer Series in third place overall.

Graham Bartlett, Velon CEO, said: “We're sorry that the fans won’t get to see the best teams in the world go all-out for overall victory in the Hammer Series in Hong Kong again this year. However, Team Jumbo-Visma were the standout team of this year's Series and they deserve the title. We are already in the middle of planning next year’s Hammer Series and we look forward to being back in Hong Kong for the big Hammer Series finale in 2020”.

Merijn Zeeman, Team Jumbo-Visma sportive director, said: "It’s a pity Hammer Hong Kong is cancelled, but we’re very happy we will be crowned as overall winners. The Hammer Series came to life for our team more and more in recent years. It’s good to see that it was the same for other teams. We always emphasize ‘winning together’ and winning the Hammer Series is the perfect example."

Velon and the participating teams are disappointed about the situation but are eager to come back and take on Hammer Hong Kong next year to give the fans the spectacular season finale to the Hammer Series that they deserve.