Anticipation is growing in Woodford Green as the leafy suburb prepares to welcome the Tour de France to London.

Spectators – some of them set up several hours in advance of the race even setting off from Cambridge – hailed the day as a “great” and “brilliant” opportunity to see world-class cyclists just yards from their homes.

Simon Liley, 41, of Higham Road, Woodford Green, said: “It’s brilliant – once in a lifetime. Just yards from our road – it’s fantastic.

“I think it probably shows what an exciting part of the UK this is to be in.

“And hopefully it shows people that cycling is a good thing to be involved in.”

Student Jessica Lebon, 20, who went to Trinity Catholic High School in Woodford and lives nearby in Grenville Gardens, said: “It’s a great thing for the area.

“It’s a great thing for the community to get together and put things like this on.

“It’s providing a few jobs – I think it’s great to see people coming together to watch the cycling.”

The third leg of the 101st Tour left Cambridge around lunchtime on Monday. More than 200 cyclists travel through Cambridgeshire and Essex before entering Greater London at around 2.40pm by Redbridge’s Epping New Road.

The race then zips along Woodford Green High Road and on to Woodford New Road before exiting the borough into Waltham Forest.

Riders finish with a sprint along The Mall about 45 minutes later after snaking through east London.

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