The 22-year-old broke away from the rest of the field with less than 50 kilometres to go of the opening 147.5 kilometres stage from Daventry to Kettering.

She crossed the line in a time of three hours, 51min and 39sec to claim her first victory of the year.

The Polish national champion is the lead ride for M3 Pro Cycling this week, despite the inclusion of The Netherlands' Marianne Vos, the winner of the inaugural Women's Tour in 2014.

Vos took second place today, 1:42 behind Niewiadoma, while another Dutch cyclist, Christine Majerus of Boels-Dolmans, completed the top three with the same time.

Anna van der Breggen of The Netherlands, who currently leads the International Cycling Union (UCI) Women's WorldTour standings and won road race gold at Rio 2016, finished in a disappointing 36th place.

Great Britain's Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald could only manage a 12th place finish.

Alice Barnes of Northamptonshire, riding for Drops, was the highest British finisher in seventh place.

France's Audrey Cordon-Ragot of British team Wiggle High5 took the Queen of the Mountains jersey by winning the two main climbs of the day.

Tomorrow's 144.5km second stage starts and finishes in Stoke-on-Trent.

Racing will conclude on Sunday (June 11) with a 62km stage that starts and finishes on Regent Street in London.

The Women’s Tour is a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, which is made up of 20 events around the world in 10 different countries.