Crowds of people lined the streets in Comet country to cheer on nearly 100 of the world’s top female cyclists in the fourth stage of The Friends Life Women’s Tour today (Saturday).
The inaugural tour’s penultimate stage, which started in Cheshunt and finished in Welwyn GC, saw riders racing through Baldock High Street in the first Sprint Stage from outside the library at 1.18pm and then making their way through Letchworth GC via Broadway, Great Wymondley, St Ippolyts, and Langley before heading to Codicote for the second Sprint Stage.
World and Olympic champion Marianne Vos outsprinted Giorgia Bronzini and Great Britain Cycling Team’s top-placed rider Lucy Garner in Welwyn GC to win stage four of the tour and extend her overall lead.
The spectators cheered on London 2012 Olympic Road Race runner-up Lizzie Armistead, Hertfordshire-born double Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott, racing for Wiggle Honda, and her sister Emma who was competing for Dutch professional team Dolmans-Boels.
Jenny Smith, 28, said: “It was pretty exciting while we were all waiting for the sprint to start. No-one really knew what to expect or how fast they would be going, but it was a good adrenaline rush to see them all whizzing by!”
Mark Scott, 42, said: “I think it’s great to see this sort of thing in Baldock. It gets people out in the streets and the town has looked really busy and lively all day. We couldn’t really tell who was winning, but it was very exciting all the same. The crowd got a good buzz out of it.”
For more information about the race – which held its first stage in Oundle, Northamptonshire, on Wednesday and concludes tomorrow in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk – visit www.womenstour.co.uk
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