Riders are raring to go for the third and final stage of the race, which is set to provide an electric atmosphere at the Finish Line on The Mall.

Hanna Johansson (Team Torelli, IRL), winner of the Queen of the Mountains competition if she finishes today (28 May)

She said: “My only goal is to finish the race really and stay on my bike. I don’t want to jinx anything, so I’m cautious. It will be super cool to race on the streets of London, I’ve never done it before, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Lizzie Deignan (Team Trek-Segafredo, USA), won third place in Stage One and second place in Stage Two

She said: “I’m really looking forward to today. There’s a great atmosphere here. I feel like I always perform better on bigger occasions and it feels like that so I’m excited.

“[Our tactics] are to be as aggressive as possible, but it’s hard on a flat, city centre circuit, the odds are against us definitely, but we also have nothing to lose. We lost our sprinter on day one and we’ve made the best of that situation, so as a team we can be proud and we can enjoy and be aggressive today.”

Britain’s Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM)

She said: “Really excited, this was the stage I was most looking forward to out of the three. The crowds are amazing here and it’s pretty special to get to do a race around the city centre, so I think we are all really looking forward to it.

“We’ve got the GC lead so we don’t need to make anything, other teams will have to race aggressively to try and win, so keep with the plan and go for a stage win.”

Stage Two winner Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM Racing, GER)

She said: “A stage win is most important, so we are going to try and do everything to get some seconds, but if not we will just focus on a stage win. I’m a little sore but a lot of people went down so everybody’s sore, so I can’t complain too much.

“My legs are doing okay, it’s just the normal aches and pains, but I’m just so grateful to be here and to be back. It’s just such a beautiful day and the crowds look amazing, so I’m really excited. We’ll see what happens when we get out there. but it’s going to be a fun day for all of us.”

Britain’s Anna Henderson (Team Jumbo-Visma, NED)

She said: “We have recovered well as a team and we are excited to go again today. We are ready to get stuck in and just enjoy the race. We are hoping to communicate well as a team and enjoy being on British roads and looking forward to the sprint.”

Charlotte Kool (Team DSM, NED) speaking after the Stage Two crash

“It could be better but it is what it is, so we need to do it with what we have. It’s actually a beautiful stage setting, it’s actually the stage that suits me the best so I’m looking forward to it. If I win the stage, I would normally win the GC so we just go fully for that.”

Eleonora Gasparrini, U23 Leader (UAE Team ADQ)

She said: “We think that there will be a sprint and we hope that we have our sprinter and we also fight for the final GC, we are ready. I slept well and have recovered good, so we will see.”