The 2014 Tour of Britain has the look of a race that has matured in the 11 editions since the race relaunched in 2004, including its hardest summit finish yet on the Tumble, one of the longest and toughest mountains in Wales, a start in Liverpool, a final-day time trial in central London and a climb of the formidable Ditchling Beacon ascent near Brighton.

It is a route which looks tough on paper, with plenty of climbs in Wales and the West Country. It misses out Scotland – which enjoyed the start last year – and the north and east of England, although the latter areas will be amply compensated by hosting the Tour de France Grand Départ in July.

The opening stage in Liverpool is more than a mere circuit race, involving an eight-mile loop to be covered 10 times, and including a start and finish close to the Liver Building. Next day the finish in Llandudno includes a scenic trip around the hilly Great Orme. The organisers resisted the temptation to finish on top of the peninsula but have opted to end the following day's stage on the summit of the Tumble, a climb which is nearly four miles long and a far tougher proposition than the 2013 finish on Haytor.

"It's a European-looking climb – it's long, it kicks up at the start, steadies, then kicks again," said the race director, Mick Bennett. It is also well-known to British fans, having been used on several occasions in the national road race championships. The next day's stage to Bristol also includes a hilltop finish, on Clifton Downs, and the Devon stage into Exeter will take in Dartmoor – now a regular feature on the route – and will go over Haytor, but on this occasion continuing down the other side.

The final two full stages – Bath to Hemel Hempstead and Camberley to Brighton – are both longer than usual, to attract riders building up to the world road race championships, to be held in Spain later in September. While the Hemel stage is mainly flat apart from some climbs in the Chilterns, the Brighton leg finishes over Ditchling Beacon and also includes the climb to the racecourse where Chris Boardman staged a late escape when the fourth stage of the 1994 Tour de France finished in the south coast resort. The last day's short time trial and circuit race around Westminster are familiar from the past and will be the highpoints of a full day's racing that includes the Westminster women's Grand Prix.

The 2014 race also offers shorter transfers between stages, something that will be welcomed by the teams and which reflects the race's new status as hors categorie, among the elite of professional cycling stage races. That means a slight increase in prize money but it should also mean a higher calibre of entry owing to an increased allocation of world ranking points. Bennett's dilemma is now likely to involve maintaining the balance of the field between top professional squads and British domestic teams who rely on it to draw sponsors, not to mention competitive outsiders such as the Irish An Post team.

One move that reflects the race organisers' increased confidence is the long stage across southern England on the Friday, taking in several police districts and involving an ambitious set of road closures. "The event has grown up," said Bennett. "Before now it would have been difficult to cross several regions because they might not have wanted to pay for the race or provide the infrastructure in terms of closing roads for the race. Now they want it, even if they haven't got a stage start or finish."

The reason for that, he believes, is that the race has three hours of live television per stage, so even areas which do not get a stage finish get coverage. "There's almost a sense of Tour of Britain fever now, which is rewarding for us," Bennett said. "When you are setting up a finish, it's 6am and there are already families out there with their camping chairs bagging their spot, willing to wait for hours, that's something I find quite emotional."