THOUSANDS of people showed their support to cycling champions in Abergavenny over the weekend while others took the opportunity to hop on a bike themselves.

As part of the town’s Festival of Cycling, on Saturday, cyclists tackled the routes to be undertaken by the champions in the Championship Sportive.

Competitors had the choice of taking part in the women’s route, which was 46 miles long, or the gold, silver and bronze routes, which were 100 miles, 62 miles and 20 miles long respectively.

Wing Tang, a cyclist from Cardiff, completed the 20-mile bronze race in about an hour and 12 minutes.

He said: “It was good. There was one shower but after that there was plenty of sun.”

Yesterday, hundreds of people lined the streets and cheered as the stars of British cycling flashed past the park on the finishing laps.

The elite under 23 women’s road race set off at 9am, and the elite under 23 men’s race set off at 1pm

Laura Trott, 22, took the women’s National Road Race crown, completing the race in two hours 44minutes and 56seconds, successfully defending the under-23 title she won in Glasgow last year.

Wiggle Honda teammate, Danielle King came second and Lizzie Armitstead third.

While Peter Kennaugh beat teammate Ben Swift to seal the National Road Race title yesterday evening.

Yvonne Jones, from Abergavenny, cheered on the cyclists as they passed Frogmore Street.

She said: “I came to support it as it’s a great event to have in Abergavenny and I’m just soaking up the wonderful atmosphere.”

Travelling from Carmarthen was Nicola Jones, who travelled with a group of 14 people, to support her nephew, Scott Davies, 18, who was competing.

She said: “It’s been a fantastic day and the support from the community has been wonderful with hundreds of people turning out to cheer.

“It’s great to have such an event in Wales for welsh cyclists.”

On Thursday, Davies won the National Under-23 Championships title in the Time Trial Championships,completing it in 27mins 45secs.

A range of different events took place over the week, and yesterday, children under five got to compete in the Tiny Tots Sportive race at 11.30am.

The leader of Monmouthshire council, Cllr Peter Fox, added: “It has shown Monmouthshire to be a cycling capital of Wales and with so many people taking part makes it all worthwhile.

“And I think it’s great to see so many families taking part in the racing together.”

Over the weekend, there was fun for all the family at Bailey Park with live music acts, children’s entertainment, traditional funfair rides, and stalls selling local crafts and food.

Stalls included Glamorgan Pig, The Sausage Shed, the Flapjack Fairy, Court Cupboard, Lara Craft, and Tara Designs.

The main music stage welcomed acts The Black Rat Effect, Florence Black and The Gun Powder Plot and more.

Lesley Jones, from New Inn, attended the event with her daughter and one year old granddaughter.

She said: “We have all really enjoyed it as there is something for all age groups.

“We went down to cheer on the cyclists and now we are enjoying the entertainment- it’s been really good.”

Official attendance figures are due to be released in the coming days.