Cornwall stage of Tour of Britain won by Wout van Aert
The Belgian rider was a silver medallist in the Tokyo Olympics
Last updated 5th Sep 2021
After a thrilling day of cycling across 111 miles of Cornwall, the first stage of the Tour of Britain has come to a close.
The Duchy leg of the famous competition was won by Belgian rider Wout van Aert, who represents the team Jumbo–Visma.
He recently took a silver in the men's road race final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Over 100 of the world's top cyclists took to the Cornish roads today (5th September) meandering the route from Penzance all the way to Bodmin with a sprint finish.
The race returned after an absence of 722 days following the cancellation of the 2020 event due to the pandemic and it is the first time it has come to Cornwall.
You can watch our report from the finish line below...
Among the teams taking part were our very own Cornish guys, Saint Piran, and through all the towns and villages local residents were cheering them on.
One of their riders is Tom Mazzone, who spoke to us at the finish line.
He said: "Going through everyone's home towns, Cornish team and all that, everyone was just literally shouting Saint Piran all day. Forget the World Tour guys they were shouting us on so it was absolutely amazing really."
Councillor Jeremy Cooper is the Mayor of Bodmin, and hopes the event will inspire more people to take up cycling in the local area.
He said: "Everybody's responded really well, the children have been decorating bikes and placing them around the town to create that festival atmosphere, everybody wants a lift after Covid.
"The reason we want to attract more cyclists is because we're not a seaside town but we are in Cornwall. We're at one of the best tourist destinations in the country and cycling is part of the experience."