Tour of Britain will start in Exmouth

The Tour of Britain in Barnstaple in 2012. Archant

Exmouth will host the Tour of Britain in the Devon stage when the race sets off from the town in September on its 106-mile leg of the county.

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The Tour of Britain returns to Devon in the autumn and will this year start in Exmouth.

The start and finish venues – Exmouth to Exeter - are a reversal of the 2011 Devon Stage, when Britain’s Mark Cavendish led out his teammate Mark Renshaw for a memorable victory on Exmouth seafront.

Following the success of last year’s Devon Stage from Sidmouth to Dartmoor, which attracted a record 250,000 spectators and generated almost £5.9 million of additional spending in the county, it is hoped the local economy will enjoy a similar boost this year.

The Devon Stage will be Stage 5 of The Tour 2014 and will cover around 106 miles (171 km) of the county.

It will take in a number of communities en route, including Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury, Topsham, Exminster, Starcross, Chudleigh, Bovey Tracey, Haytor, Widecombe in the Moor, Princetown, Tavistock, Okehampton, Copplestone, and Crediton.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highway management, said: “Last year’s Devon stage was a fantastic occasion and a perfect way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the tour.

“Record breaking crowds turned out across the county, which was a welcome boost for the local economy, and this year’s Devon Stage promises to provide another great showcase for our beautiful county as a premier destination for cycling tourism.

Cllr Hughes added: “It will be a chance for Devon to celebrate the completion of the Exe Estuary Trail, which is due to be completed later this year, and the route also takes in other important cycling centres.”

The race also covers trails in Dartmoor and Okehampton.

Devon County Council said the 2014 event will be the eighth consecutive year that The Tour has visited Devon.

Over the past seven years more than a million people have watched the race in Devon along the various stage routes around the county – bringing in around £27 million to the local economy.

Race director Mick Bennett said: “The Devon stage of the tour is always highly popular with riders and spectators alike for the challenge it presents, and this year will be no different with a challenging loop across Dartmoor, including the climb of Haytor.

“The Exeter to Exmouth stage in 2011 was one of our best ever days racing, with fantastic support from the Devon crowds, so running in the opposite direction and coming after the success of last year’s Haytor finish, I think we can once again predict bumper crowds and exciting racing.”

This year’s Tour of Britain will have the race’s biggest ever line-up of top tier UCI Pro Teams in the 18-team field, led by the likes of Team Sky, who won last year’s Tour with Sir Bradley Wiggins, and Spanish squad Movistar, who won both the Yodel Direct Sprints jersey and SKODA King of the Mountains jersey. Other teams announced to be taking part are Omega Pharma– Quick-Step, BMC Racing, Tinkoff – Saxo, Cannondale, Garmin Sharp, Team Giant Shimano, and Belkin Pro Cycling.

The full line-up of teams for The Tour of Britain will be announced in the summer.

At the national launch of the 2014 Tour in Canary Wharf it was revealed that the race would start in Liverpool on Sunday September 7 and finish in London with an individual time trial and a circuit race on Sunday September 14.

For more information go to www.southwesttourofbritain.co.uk and www.tourofbritain.co.uk and on Twitter follow @SWTourofBritain.