The highest place Briton was Ben Swift (Team Sky) who having been edged out in the final sprint, rolled in tenth, ahead of Gerald Ciolek (MTN–Qhubeka) - winner of the 2013 Milan – San Remo.

In Surrey the route passed through Weybridge and Ripley on the way to the first categorised climb of Newlands Corner near Guildford before heading along the A25 to Abinger Hammer.

The route back to London travelled through Dorking and included a single ascent of Box Hill before the largely flat run-in via Cobham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon and Putney.

The peloton briefly splintered on the last categorised climb of Box Hill as David Millar of Garmin–Sharp set a furious pace which led to the escape of his teammate Jack Bauer together with Yoann Offredo (FDJ.fr) and Simon Yates (Great Britain Cycling Team) - who eventually caught the early breakaway.

David Millar led the peloton through Westminster, but as the teams passed under the flamme rouge with 1 km to go it was FDJ.fr who were the better organised, delivering Arnaud Démare to the line to win by a bike length from Sacha Modolo.