Glorious sunshine and a party atmosphere greeted the Tour of Britain elite cyclists when they sprinted to the finish line at the picturesque Sandringham Estate today.

The cheering crowd, which was eight people deep in places, burst into life when Lithuanian Gediminas Bagdonas, British cyclist Ian Wilkinson and Team Europcar's Mathieu Claude pushed for victory at the royal estate just after 3pm.

At 200km, the East Anglian stage, the penultimate leg of the internationally-renowned cycle race, was the longest stage since 2004 and the relief was evident on the face of Bagdonas when he crossed the line after four hours and 33 minutes.

Mark Cavendish and the overall leader of the Tour of Britain, Lars Boom, came in seventh and 19th respectively, one minute 23 seconds behind Bagdonas.

Cavendish, who was seeking to push Boom out of first place in the overall standings, did, however, win the bunch sprint at the head of the main field.

After the race, Cavendish posted a message on social network website Twitter and was full of praise for the thousands who lined the street along the route to cheer the cyclists on.

He said: 'Impressive! I haven't seen so many spectators for a bike race in UK since the Tour De France [in] 2007. So much support! Thanks everyone for turning out.'

The Tour of Britain concludes tomorrow with two stages; an 9km time trial and an 90km road race. Both are based in London.

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