Adam Blythe (NFTO) is the day's winner(Image credit: Peter Goding)
King of the Mountains Category winner Steve Lampier, second place Ben Swift (Team Sky), winner Adam Blythe (NFTO), third placed Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and sprint category winner Steven Lammertink(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe (NFTO) takes the win in London(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
Adam Blythe (NFTO)(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
A double puncture for Kai Exner (Bike Aid - Ride for help)(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
A local pub offering some motivation(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) leading a small break(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
Belkin riders passing through London(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) at the startline in London(Image credit: Prudential RideLondon)
View down on Box Hill(Image credit: Peter Goding)
A Rapha Condor rider along with Duber Armando Quintero Artunduaga collide and are helped by the medics(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Philippe Gilbert rides through the countryside for team BMC(Image credit: Peter Goding)
A crash held up the pack whilst mechanics ran to help their team(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky's Ian Stannard, Bradley Wiggins riding through the rain followed by teammates Luke Rowe and Ben Swift(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins rides through the rain in London(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky's Ian Stannard riding through the rain(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky leads the race in London(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Ian Stannard (Team Sky) at the back of the pack after having technical difficulties(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Simon Yates being led out by his Orica teammate in front of Team Sky's Luke Rowe(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe team NFTO wins the race and stands on the podium in front of Buckingham palace along the Mall.(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe team NFTO wins the RideLondon Classic ahead of Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep)(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Ben Swift (Team Sky) rides away from the finish line on the Mall in London(Image credit: Peter Goding)
View as the riders cross the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe (NFTO) wins the race and is congratualted by Ben Swift as he crosses the finish line(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe (NFTO) wins the race crossing the finish line on the Mall in London(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Adam Blythe (NFTO)(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Ben Swift and Adam Blythe far right ride the final 30km(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Riders sign in for the race(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The race travels through beautiful countryside(Image credit: Peter Goding)
ake Kelly shows signs of a tumble(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The peloton races through some flooding on the roads(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Nathan Edmondson crashes in the middle of the race(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The peloton(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The group riding past Harrods in London(Image credit: Peter Goding)
A small group on the road(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Tower of London as the peloton pass (Image credit: Peter Goding)
Rapha Condor(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Mark Renshaw talks to the media in the Olympic Park before the race in Stratford.(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Giant-Shimano(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The peloton(Image credit: Peter Goding)
A break tries to go mid-race(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The peloton races through the countryside(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Prudential Ride London 2014 - London - Surrey Classic(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) at the front of the field(Image credit: Peter Goding)
The peloton roll out of the Olympic Park in Stratford(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Ian Stannard Team Sky has a joke on the start line in Startford(Image credit: Peter Goding)
Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharm-QuickStep) checks in before the race(Image credit: Peter Goding)
After a wet and muddy 200km race, it was NFTO's Adam Blythe who emerged victorious on The Mall as he edged friend and training partner Ben Swift (Team Sky) with a well-timed sprint.
"It's hard to say how much this means to me," Blythe said after claiming his first win of 2014. "But you could see how emotional it was as my face said it all.
"OK, it's not like I won the worlds or anything, but this is very big race for a British rider to win, especially in this setting in front of the Queen's house. I hope she was watching."
Swift was one the pre-race favourites with the event expected to finish in a bunch sprint and the 26-year-old appeared to be in a perfect position after five of his teammates, including 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, had worked hard in the middle part of the race to get him into a breakaway group.
"It would have been nice to have won but I am really happy with second," said Swift. "I've known Adam since I was seven-years-old and we've got a lot of history, so I knew he was the one to watch.
"I knew I needed to keep an eye on him and I could see he was looking for me on the run-in. I tried to react to his move but he's a really fast sprinter and once he got the jump on me he was away."
Julian Alaphilippe took third for Omega Pharma-QuickStep ahead of BMC's Philippe Gilbert while the final member of the break, Kristijan Koren (Cannondale), came across the line three seconds down on Blythe and Swift
How it unfolded There had been a number of early attacks from the 147-man peloton which left London bathing in the summer sunshine after a pause in the morning deluge which meant the riders were confronted with wet roads for the majority of the event.
The first significant break came in Richmond Park after 13km of racing when six riders got away and established a gap of just over a minute back to the main bunch. The break held their advantage through the early stretches out into Surrey's narrow country roads, of which many of them still smeared with rain and mud.
Wiggins and teammate Ian Stannard did much of the work to control the race as Sky took control of the peloton with their intention to close the gap and get Swift into contention for any later break.
The plan worked perfectly, and when Gilbert made his move on the approach to Box Hill, Swift was one of 10 men who leapt onto his wheel with around 70km left to race.
With Sky's work done back in the bunch, they dropped off and left the initiate to chase for other teams.
Taking up the responsibility in Sky's absence was Cannondale who were looking to Elia Viviani for a good result. With 50km left in the race, the leading break of 11 riders had built a lead of over a minute and they were looking comfortable out in front as Cannondale's efforts where having little impact on reducing the gap.
As the leaders approached Headley Heath and Leatherhead, Gilbert and Swift kept the pace high to make sure there were no passengers in the group. Gilbert then attacked the breakaway between Raynes Park and Wimbledon which caused a split and whittled down the break to five riders.
Gilbert looked intent on claiming the win on his own and another attack saw the Belgian and Alaphilippe briefly drop Swift, Blythe and Koren before it all came back together again.
When the five riders hit Putney High Street and crossed Putney Bridge for the run alongside the River Thames towards Westminster, it looked like it anyone's race to win.
Once the riders were onto The Mall, it became clear that Blythe and Swift were going to decide the 2014 victor and it was the former BMC rider who upset Swift for a confidence boosting win.
"In the last kilometre I knew I had plenty in the tank," Blythe said. "I just wanted to make sure I got everything out and didn't leave it too late to make my move.
"I knew that if I was close to Swifty I'd have a chance. I hugged close to the barriers and had a go. Now I feel like I can mix it with the big boys."
Steve Lampier of Node4 Velosure claimed the King of the Mountains title while Dutchman and Giant-Shimano stagiaire Steven Lammertin won the sprint contest.
