The much-awaited event is to start against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace, with British cycling star Mark Cavendish leading off his five men team.

A crowd of over a million peopled are lined along the route of London and Surrey to watch Cavendish and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins going for Britain’s first gold medal in the cycling road race.

Hundreds of thousands of passionate spectators will be cheering their cycling heroes down the route, with the hope of catching a glimpse of action as the racers shoot past.

Before the race Cavendish showed great trust in his team saying, “I have got four of the strongest bike riders in the world to help me.”

Bradley Wiggins, who made history in Paris when he became the first Briton to win the Tour de France, Ian Stannard, the 2012 British National Road Race Champion, David Millar and Chris Froome, who both won stages at this year's Tour de France, make up the Great Britain road race team.

“We have got four Tour de France stage winners in the team, first and second in the general classification and the British champion Tour de France 2012 British stage winner.

“They are incredibly loyal guys, incredibly patriotic guys and really want to do this.”

Cavendish, 27, missed out on a medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with both he and Wiggins finishing in eighth position.