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South Hams Hammer Under New Ownership

by Henry Peacock

After a successful start to running an annual Sportive in the South Hams, Devon, the organisers of the South Hams Hammer, local team Cycle Sport South Hams, have sold the event to the organisers behind Cicli Di Tomsoni.

David Hamilton and Andrew Thompson are forming a new events company and have offered a deal to Cycle Sport South Hams that will see a payment to the club each year for the next 5 years, which ensures funding for the club, as well as attracting support and volunteers for the running of the sportive.
The additional funding that the club will receive will go to supporting the development of local road racing and riders, especially youngsters and promoting cycling in the local area.

hams hammer
Coastal View From The 2012 Review Of The Event

Support for a designated charity will continue with the promise of a minimum donation of £3000 raised from the sportive event. The new owners hope to build on the success of the 2012 event and create the best sportive in the UK with at least 2000 entrants and they say that they have secured generous financial backing to achieve this aim.

Gareth Howells, representative for Cycle Sport South Hams, said: “we are extremely proud that a small club like ours has created and run such a successful event. In the first year we went from nothing to over 300 riders and the event received a great deal of positive feedback. Also in the process we raised over £3000 for Diabetes UK. However running a large event like this, does place quite a strain on the membership of a small cycling club and by enabling others to take over the running we believe will make the event bigger and better. We are confident that the expansion of the event will improve the experience for riders, promote cycling in our area and continue to be on considerable benefit to our chosen charity.”

coastal
A Different Organising Commitee Will Be Able to Continue To Provide a High Quality Event

Andrew Thompson, Director of Cicli Di Tomsoni, added: “Having been involved with the first edition of the Hammer, we are delighted to be able to work in conjunction with Cycle Sport South Hams to develop what is already a very successful event. Our plan is offer a European experience that will massively enhance the UK sportive scene. The Hammer will become part of a series of sportives, and training events that lift the standard in this country. The 2013 Hammer will offer routes of both 100km and 100 miles with the addition of hill climb time trials. Both the overall event time and the time trial will gain the rider an age and gender related gold, silver or bronze standard. In addition, there will be points counting towards their overall position in the Hammer Trophy series of events, not just for individuals but also for their club or team. We are very proud to think we can not only offer the Hammer experience, but also contribute to the develop of cycling within the South Hams and guarantee a substantial donation to charity”.

In addition to the Sportive the new owners of the South Hams Hammer hope to run training camps, both in Devon and in Europe as well as continue their core business of importing and distributing the A:xus and Thompson brands of bike here in the UK.

The business plan put forward hopes to employ 10 staff after five years and continue to manage a sustainable business that will expand on the local Sportive scene and aims to offer a huge boost to the promotion of cycle sport in the region.