World Champion and Aviva Women's Tour 2016 winner Lizzie Armitstead has said that she is proud to be part of a country that loves cycling.
There were big crowds in Kettering for the finish of this year's race and despite some horrendous weather, the crowds have been excellent with plenty out cheering on the riders.
"Being a British athlete I feel so lucky to be a part of a country that loves cycling at the moment and I hope that that bubble continues.
"My teammates say 'Lizzie, why is it so popular here?' and I don't really know the answer, but events like this certainly help keep the ball rolling.”
Armistead paid tribute to her Boels Dolmans team and said: "It means what a fantastic team performance it's been,
"We had quite a lot of pressure on us today with the team performing so well all week I couldn't let them down really so I've relieved and happy that I did it for them.
"Probably from me, but not from the girls around me, they kept a cool head and Chantal [Blaak] said 'We can close that if we want to'.
"It was still hard, although probably one of the easier days of the tour so far which meant we could control it and bring it to a sprint which is what we wanted."
Pictures copyright of CNS Sport. Credit CNS/David Edwards/KM