Tour of Britain hits the roads of Nottinghamshire as community shows spirit
The people of Nottinghamshire lined the streets in their thousands as the Tour of Britain passed through the county .
Today marked stage five of the elite cycle race making its way down the spine of the country, from Scotland to the Isle of White.
The race started in West Bridgford at 10.45am, taking cyclists through some of the regions most picturesque places and ended in Mansfield just before 4pm.
It also ran through many Advertiser area communities, including; Cotgrave, Cropwell Bishop, Cropwell Butler, Radcliffe, Shelford, Gunthorpe, Lowdham, Lambley, Woodborough, Calverton, Farnsfield, Edingley and Halam.
The tour then passed into Southwell just before 1pm, where hundreds of residents joined with visitors to cheer on the riders.
The town also hosted a cycle hub along the Burgage, which was set up by the Southwell Town Council offering food, drink and entertainment.
Lyn Harris of Southwell Town Council was the head councillor for the event.
"It's been absolutely brilliant to have such elite athletes come to our town," she said.
"I think a day like this really shows what Southwell has to offer. It's a vibrant town centre and I've spoken to so many people who have said they're going to come back and visit us."
Hundreds of children from the Lowe's Wong infant and junior schools had the afternoon off to cheer on the riders, which they did enthusiastically while waving hand-decorated flag.
Southwell residents Sue Puttergill, Paul Tew and Tina Tew said: "The sun's shining, it's a community event and we've come out to support it.
"We really enjoyed it last time it came to town in 2018. We stood outside the minster and thought we'd come along again."
Peter Harris, town and district councillor, spoke about the importance of the event, saying: "We've been working really hard and doing a lot of preparation alongside other councils to make this event a success.
"It's brought a lot of people into the town for the first time that wouldn't usually come and it was fantastic to see so many local people and youngsters."
John Truman is a keen cyclist, who biked 25 miles from Ripley after having followed the tour and television throughout the week.
"I had the day off, so thought I'd come down especially for this.
"I really think it'll put Southwell on the map, it's a lovely town and it can't harm to have all the eyes and cameras pointed at it."
Another group of cyclists had cycled all the way from Mansfield to watch the race in Southwell, before planning to rush back to home again to catch the professionals at the finish line.
The community spirit of the county was fully demonstrated when one cyclist who had come off his bike, was helped on his way by a resident who stabilised the rider after swapping to a new bike.
The route of this year's tour passed through Southwell's streets at dazzling speed, making it's way up the high street and down the Burgage past the cycle hub, before continuing along Station Road towards Hockerton.
As part of the cycling celebrations, communities were encouraged to decorate the streets and buildings of their towns.
The decorations were particularly impressive as the race passed through Caunton at 1.20pm.
Ian Dryden, owner of the Plough Inn, Main Street, Caunton said:
"The crowd has been excellent today. It has been a busy day and it would be great for business if the race was on every week.
"The school kids were out cheering the bikes which was fantastic to see, they were enjoying themselves."
The race then headed out towards Norwell, Ossington, Moorhouse, Normanton, Fledborough, Upton, and Edwinstowe before passing out of the Advertiser area.
Along the whole route there were also three sprint sections at Edingley, Retford, and Clumber Park.
The race concluded in Mansfield where Jordi Meeus was the fastest to the line to win stage 5 of the Tour of Britain as part of peloton took a wrong turn inside one kilometre of the finish line.
