Tour de Yorkshire: Lizzie Armitstead happy despite being denied victory by Kirsten Wild

The one-day race started in Armistead's home town of Otley

Lizzie Armitstead on the Tour de Yorkshire (Getty)

Lizzie Armitstead began the day with goose pimples and ended it happy even though she was denied victory in the women's Tour de Yorkshire.

World champion Armitstead showed off her rainbow jersey as the race started in her home town of Otley before launching a late bid for glory, only to fall short as Dutch rider Kirsten Wild took the honours from a bunch sprint in Doncaster.

Wild beat Wiggle High5's Lucy Garner to the line after the peloton had caught Armitstead and her two fellow escapees inside the final three kilometres of the 136.5km race.

"The start was brilliant," said Armitstead. "I had a couple of bike problems to begin with which was difficult but it was a goose pimple moment for me at the beginning to be supported by my community.

"It's not something I ever thought would happen to me - to start a race in my home town and as world champion - both are a surprise and a bonus."

Armitstead, who is focused on the road race at the Olympics in Rio, had insisted beforehand she was not a contender for victory here and was happy to have put on the show that she did.

"It was worth just giving it a go," she said. "I wouldn't have betted on me in a sprint so I thought I'd at least make it interesting."

Armitstead made her move on the descent after Conisbrough Castle, around 100km into the stage, and was followed by Leah Kirchmann (Liv Plantur), with the pair soon catching early escapee Doris Schweizer of Cylance Pro Cycling.

"I kind of did it by accident," the 27-year-old said of the attack. "I knew I needed to keep it going down the descent because there was a little kicker there, so I thought 'I need to stick it in here, see what happens,' and when I looked behind there were two of us."

Kirsten Wild celebrates victory (Getty)

Along with Schweizer she built a lead of around one minute as the race briefly headed into Nottinghamshire - paying homage to Britain's first road cycling world champion Tommy Simpson as it passed through his adopted home town of Harworth - but as they turned back north towards Doncaster, the peloton closed in.

After it all came back together in the final stages, Wild jumped out from the pack to claim glory and a bumper cheque of around £15,000 from a prize fund totalling £50,000 - a record for a women's cycling event.

"Thank you to the team for bringing back the break just in time," said Wild, who will share the prize money with her team-mates. "When it came down to the sprint it was good for me, and I am happy to have won.

"It was a great opportunity for women's cycling and it has been really good to race here, in front of enthusiastic crowds."

That bumper prize fund was intended to herald a 'revolution' in women's cycling but one other key element - live coverage from start to finish - fell flat as a relay plane was grounded with a technical fault and no pictures were broadcast - to the immense dismay of organisers.

While that frustrated potential viewers at home, huge crowds once again lined the route as the sun came out following Friday's bad weather.

When asked about the television coverage, Armitstead said: "I had no idea. It's one of those things but at least all the people on the streets saw us, and hopefully we've inspired some of the girls and boys out on the route."

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PA