Tour of Britain riders in Newtown

Hundreds of visitors descended on Newtown today to mark the arrival of the Tour of Britain cycle race.

Stage Three of the 2010 Tour of Britain started in the town at 10.15am and was expected to travel through Llandrindod Wells, Builth Wells and Llanwrtyd Wells before heading into Carmarthenshire and onto Swansea.

It is the first time the race has been staged in Wales for six years. The race saw Olympians Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy and Welshman Geraint Thomas, who wore the White Jersey of Best Young Rider at this year's Tour de France, taking part.

The Tour of Britain is the UK's biggest professional cycle race and a centrepiece of the British sporting calendar with 96 of the world's top cyclists from 16 professional international teams competing this year.

Cyclists taking part in the eight-day race set off from Rochdale on Saturday morning and made their way to Blackpool.

The Welsh leg of the tour, sponsored by Powys County Council, is 93 miles long and started in Newtown with six pupils from the town's Hafren Junior School leading the race. Councillor Wynne Jones, who is responsible for regeneration and development at Powys County Council, said: "We are delighted that the country's best known and most viewed cycling event will be starting in Newtown."