Video: Vos, Armitstead and Barnes on the Women's Tour

The inaugural Friends Life Women’s Tour came to an exciting conclusion on Sunday, with Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv) beating Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) to the overall classification.

The race was the first international event for women in Great Britain and saw huge crowds line the route to cheer on the riders. Cyclingnews spoke to a number of riders, including race winner Vos, and British riders Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) and Hannah Barnes (UnitedHealthcare) to see what they thought.

“It’s really important to me, as a British rider, to have a home race and I’m very proud that such a prestigious race has come to my home country,” Armitstead said to Cyclingnews.

For Vos, it is the first time she has raced on British roads since taking gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The multiple Olympic and World Champion was happy to be back in front of the British crowds.

“It’s a new race and it’s always exciting. How the organisation is and how the crowds are here in Great Britain is fantastic,” Vos told Cyclingnews. “Holland is a racing nation, but you don’t often get crowds like this. It’s fantastic to race here and it is a motivation when you see all the kids around out of school.”

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