Felix English won the Men’s Elite Grand Prix last night as the 28th annual Otley Cycle Races proved a rip-roaring success.

Fans turned out in their thousands for the latest instalment of a sporting showpiece which continues to grow in stature every year.

Rapha Condor JLT rider English was crowned the winner of the main event, with Tobyn Horton and Andrew Hawdon taking second and third place respectively.

With the Tour de France due to come to Yorkshire in 2014, Otley was out to underline its status as a cycling mecca.

Typically, it did not disappoint as massed throngs greeted the hundreds of cyclists who competed under grey skies.

Despite the foreboding skyline, the rain held off as the Mayor of Otley, Councillor Pamela Gill, addressed the crowds from the podium in the middle of Bondgate to mark the start of proceedings shortly before 6pm.

The Chevin Cycles Classic Race, which proceeded the Men’s Grand Prix, was won by Will Thomas, while Lloyd Chapman finished second and Levi Moody third.

The feast of cycling had begun with the first-ever Women’s Grand Prix, which Elinor Barker won after pipping Hannah Barnes in a thrilling finish.

Harriet Owen finished third but Otley’s very own Lizzie Armitstead – an Olympic silver medallist at London 2012 – was absent last night due to her current training commitments in Monaco.

Fellow Olympian Laura Trott, a double gold medallist last summer, had been due to compete but was a late withdrawal due to illness.

But that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the huge crowd and Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, was hoping to top the 14,000 who witnessed last year’s event to set a new record.

The Women’s Grand Prix was followed by the youth race for under-16 riders, then the lads and lasses race for under-14s, before the Chevin Cycles Classic Race and the Men’s Grand Prix took centre stage.