Germany’s Marcel Kittel wins third stage of Tour de France

The world’s most famous bike race will return to France after two stages in Yorkshire and the final UK stretch from Cambridge to London today, via parts of Essex. The riders began this final 155 kilometre route at 12.15.

The last UK stage will end in a sprint on the Mall, where spectators are expected to line the route.

Millions of people took to the streets of Yorkshire to wave the riders on over the weekend – also decorating their houses and even their sheep in tribute – and organisers will be hoping for similar enthusiasm in the capital.

Unbelievable, incredible, amazing, astonishing. Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director, on the crowds so far

The Tour’s general director Christian Prudhomme suggested the number of spectators on stages one and two could have been as many as five million as he declared the opening to the 2014 race “the grandest Grand Depart ever”.

Mr Prudhomme said the huge crowds seen for the second day out on the route were “unbelievable, incredible, amazing, astonishing”, and he said the five times Tour champion and fellow Frenchman Bernard Hinault had told him he had never seen crowds like it in 40 years of cycling.

The route from Cambridge for the cyclists is mostly flat, without the spectacular climbs over Yorkshire’s moors which were some of the crowning moments of the weekend’s racing.

Once the riders reach London, they will pass landmarks including the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, as well as cycling for a few kilometres along the River Thames.

The finish line is where the road cycling races ended in the London 2012 Olympics – but for British fans one man is missing: sadly, British rider Mark Cavendish will be absent from the sprint battle on the Mall after he crashed out of the Tour de France moments from the finish line on day one in Harrogate, injuring his shoulder.