CROWDS lined the streets as Olympic triple medal winner Bradley Wiggins rode through Belmont as he competed in the Tour of Britain.

Fans cheered as Bradley raced along sections of Belmont Road and Egerton Road at lightning speeds in the first stage of the five-day race.

They also gave a rapturous applause to the rest of the elite cyclists taking part.

Tour de France runner up Andreas Kloden and British champion Roger Hammond were also in the star-studded line-up.

In the Athens Olympics, Bradley won gold, silver and bronze medals -- the best performance by a British athlete in the Olympics for 40 years.

Among the crowd was Emily Chatwin, aged eight, a High Lawn Primary School pupil, who went along with her mother Kathryn from Sharples. They stood among the crowds that gathered outside the Black Dog Inn in Belmont Road to catch the action.

Emily said: "It was really good. I couldn't believe how fast they were going."

Mrs Chatwin said: "They went by so fast we didn't really get a good look at them. I thought it might have gone on a bit longer."

Yesterday saw the cyclists complete stage one of the gruelling route, as they undertook a 129-mile circular route through Lancashire, starting and finishing in Manchester. It was the first major cycling event in the Belmont area since the successful Commonwealth Games of 2002.

Although, the cyclists were running about 40 minutes behind schedule, the delay did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the scores of people who had gone along to soak up the sunny weather and festival atmosphere.

Cyclists from clubs as far afield as Preston and Warrington were also zooming around the route, supporting the race.

Keen cyclist Trevor Boardman from Hindley, in Wigan, went to watch the Olympic champion and even created a banner in his honour, saying "We are Wigginers."

Mr Boardman, aged 63, a retired BT engineer, who is a member of the Hindley Cycling Group said: "We watched Bradley in the Olympics so we thought we would come and cheer him on. I thought three medals was worth a two minute poster."

It was the first time the race has been held since 1999. The next stages see the cyclists race through Sheffield, Nottingham and Newport before finishing in London on Sunday.