Movistar wins Climb race at Hammer Series

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Aggressive Betancur helps Spanish team get off to strong start

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Carlos Betancur (Movistar) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Carlos Betancur was on song during the opening competition of the inaugural Hammer Series to help deliver Movistar to victory in the Hammer Climb. The Colombian was part of a six-man group that escaped early on and secured top points on most of the laps, and launched an attack on the final lap to take double points on the line.

Movistar racked up a commanding lead in the final standings with 144.8 points. There was competition for second place on the table with Team Sunweb and Team Sky duking it out. Team Sky’s Tao Geoghegan Hart had been racking up the points for his team until he crashed on a sharp corner in the final laps. The crash took him out of contention for the top points, allowing Sunweb to climb up the standings with the help of Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin. Sunweb ended the day with 98.9 points compared to Team Sky’s 84.7.

The points also earned the teams time bonuses toward Sunday's chase, with Movistar earning 15 seconds to Sunweb's 12. Sky will get a 10 second bonus.

"I have trained so hard in the last couple of months, training at altitude. A team like this deserves the form I have here. It was an amazing performance by the team and we came here with the idea of winning," Betancur said.

Points ranking

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Movistar Team144.8pts
2Team Sunweb98.9Row 1 - Cell 3
3Team Sky84.7Row 2 - Cell 3
4Orica-Scott83.3Row 3 - Cell 3
5BMC Racing Team75.2Row 4 - Cell 3
6Nippo - Vini Fantini53.6Row 5 - Cell 3
7Quick-Step Floors53Row 6 - Cell 3
8Team LottoNl-Jumbo27.7Row 7 - Cell 3
9Lotto Soudal23.7Row 8 - Cell 3
10Cannondale-Drapac2.3Row 9 - Cell 3
11Roompot - Nederlandse LoterijRow 10 - Cell 2 Row 10 - Cell 3
12Bahrain-MeridaRow 11 - Cell 2 Row 11 - Cell 3
13Trek-SegafredoRow 12 - Cell 2 Row 12 - Cell 3
14UAE Team EmiratesRow 13 - Cell 2 Row 13 - Cell 3
15Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 14 - Cell 2 Row 14 - Cell 3
16Israel Cycling AcademyRow 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3
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Time standings
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Movistar Team15pts
2Team Sunweb12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Team Sky10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Orica-Scott8Row 3 - Cell 3
5BMC Racing Team6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Nippo - Vini Fantini5Row 5 - Cell 3
7Quick-Step Floors4Row 6 - Cell 3
8Team LottoNl-Jumbo3Row 7 - Cell 3
9Lotto Soudal2Row 8 - Cell 3
10Cannondale-Drapac1Row 9 - Cell 3
11Roompot - Nederlandse LoterijRow 10 - Cell 2 Row 10 - Cell 3
12Bahrain-MeridaRow 11 - Cell 2 Row 11 - Cell 3
13Trek-SegafredoRow 12 - Cell 2 Row 12 - Cell 3
14UAE Team EmiratesRow 13 - Cell 2 Row 13 - Cell 3
15Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 14 - Cell 2 Row 14 - Cell 3
16Israel Cycling AcademyRow 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3

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