Sportive

Photo gallery: the best of RideLondon in 23 pictures

Rain, pain and glory in London and the Surrey Hills

RideLondon celebrated its fifth anniversary at the weekend, having launched in 2013 as a legacy event following the success of the London 2012 Olympic Games – and the festival of cycling is bigger than ever.

The RideLondon festival packs in all things two-wheeled, with Bromptons and penny farthings among the bikes on show in the capital over the weekend.

Alexander Kristoff won the RideLondon Classic, but more than 100,000 cyclists are believed to have been involved in the weekend as a whole (Pic: Jed Leicester/Silverhub for Prudential RideLondon)

Elite racing was also an important part of the weekend, from hand cycles to the women’s RideLondon Classique and men’s RideLondon Classic. And that’s before mentioning the closed-roads RideLondon 100 sportive – one of the biggest events on the UK calendar.

– Alexander Kristoff wins RideLondon Classic 2017 on The Mall –

All told, more than 100,000 cyclists are believed to have got involved in some way or another over the weekend, in what was a true celebration of cycling. Here’s some of the best of the action.