Hundreds of spectators arrived in Welshpool to catch a glimpse of cyclists taking part in the 2024 Women’s Tour as it began from the town.

The Lloyds Bank Women’s Tour of Britain set of from Welshpool at 11.15am on Thursday, June 6, to the cheer of crowds as some of the top female cyclists in the world set off from the start line in Welshpool.

Five UCI Women’s Continental teams and six British Continental teams took part in the event, along with an all-star Great Britain team featuring former world champion and two times Women’s Tour winner Lizzie Deignan, as well as Olympic gold medallist Elinor Barker.

Welshpool mayor Phil Owen was out to see the race begin.

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He said: “It’s really nice to welcome the Women’s Tour to Welshpool again, having hosted the start in 2022 it’s wonderful to have them back for the start of the first leg.

"It’s an honour and a privilege to host them. The weather has favoured us which is lovely as well. We saw an excellent turn out from spectators.

"It’s tremendously well organised, for such a major event that I’m sure has taken 100s of people's involvement. It’s been hugely enjoyed by everyone I’ve spoken to.

"These are just the sort of events that are good for Welshpool, right at the heart of the town, as well as the surrounding areas. I only hope everyone visiting passes through town at a more leisurely pace than the cyclists did."

The race started from Broad Street, as cyclists began their long journey through a route of 142.5km to Llandudno, passing through Berriew, Castle Caereinion, Llanfair Caereinion, Dolanog, Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, Pen-y-bont-fawr and Llangynog.

 

Elynor Bäckstedt, one of two Welsh cyclists competing with the Great Britain team said: “It will be really nice to have two of us from Wales in the team. I would love that extra support from the Welsh crowd, and I think we will have it to be honest."

Crowds were out in full force for the start of the race, gradually arriving in the hours leading up to the final countdown. Some business owners reported seeing a rise in their number of customers throughout a very busy morning.

Jo Harris, manager of Coco on Broad Street, said: “We’ve been absolutely rammed. I’d say 80% of the customers we’ve had today have been visitors, including some local cycling groups who don’t usually come here as we’re too close to the town centre for their usual routes.

"But we’ve been open since 5.45am and have been serving people all morning since then.

"We had to bring in extra staff as it’s been such an excellent turnout."