'Really special': Men's Tour of Britain passes through Northamptonshire

The route took riders on a tour of the Northamptonshire countryside, through Daventry and nearly 30 villages, as ITV Anglia's Sarah Cooper reports

More than one hundred of the world's top male cyclists raced through Northamptonshire on Saturday.

The men's Tour of Britain arrived in the county, with riders following a 91-mile route through Daventry, Northamptonshire countryside and nearly 30 villages.

Jonathan Day, Event Director of the men's Tour of Britain, told ITV Anglia: "We can take this event right past people's front doorsteps, into people's communities, into their villages, into the towns, through all the wonderful countryside that we've got here.

"And it's free to attend, so it's not going to cost people any money. It will be absolutely buzzing."

One of the participants, Olympic silver medalist Ethan Vernon from Bedford, said it was great to be so close to home.

"We race all over the world so to come within like 30, 40 minutes of where I grew up - I'll claim that as a home race," he told ITV Anglia.

"It's pretty cool and there's faces I've seen around here that I know."

"The support this whole week has been really, really good. We race all over the world, but this is probably one of the best supported race we've had. It's really special."

The cyclists crossed the finish line at Northampton's Guildhall this afternoon, and the six-day race is due to finish in Suffolk on Sunday.

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