Thousands of cycling enthusiasts joined hundreds of professionals in a spectacular edition of the RideLondon-Surrey event over the weekend (August 3-4).

A 100-mile stretch of road between Surrey and London was closed for the event, which is staged by Mayor of London and Prudential and dubbed 'the world's greatest festival of cycling'.

Surrey Comet: Image: Oliver MonkImage: Oliver Monk

The Italian sprint maestro Elia Viviani took victory in the 2019 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, while there was drama in the RideLondon Classique after a horror crash at the sprint finish on the Mall in central London witnessed defending champion Kirsten Wild disqualified and the win awarded to fellow Netherlands cyclist Lorena Wiebes.

Beyond the professional road races, many thousands of keen cyclists took part in the three mass participation cycles — the '100', '46' and '19'-mile events.

The routes took avid and amateur cyclists through some of Surrey's most beautiful scenic roads, and passed through Esher and Kingston.

Surrey Comet: Image: Oliver MonkImage: Oliver Monk

The Mayor of London's office said that millions of pounds had been raised by cyclists being sponsored to ride for various charities in the race.

Meanwhile, Sir Dave Brailsford, General Manager of cycling stars Team Ineos on Sunday encouraged people to join in with future mass participation events.

"I ride my bike a lot, all over the place with the races that we go to, but one of the great things about Prudential RideLondon is that you get to ride with all sorts of people – from keen club cyclists to people who are on mountain bikes in their trainers.

"It’s a brilliant challenge that everyone’s undertaking together," Mr Brailsford told sponsors Prudential.