After the race set out from Armitstead’s home town of Otley, Doris Schweizer of Cylance Pro Cycling went off on a long solo breakaway, building a lead of more than two-and-a-half minutes by the midway point of the stage.
Armitstead attacked alongside Leah Kirchmann (Liv Plantur) on the descent after Conisbrough Castle 100km in and they soon caught Schweizer, with the trio holding a lead of 45 seconds as they moved into the final 25km of the stage.
They extended that advantage to around one minute as the race briefly headed into Nottinghamshire – paying homage to Britain’s first cycling world champion Tom Simpson as it passed through his adopted home town of Harworth – but as they turned back north towards Doncaster, the peloton closed in.
It all came back together in the final stages and it was Dutch rider Wild who jumped out from the pack to claim glory, and that bumper cheque.