SIR Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish will be among the top cyclists passing through Moretonhampstead as part of the tenth anniversary Tour of Britain, which starts this week.

The tour began on Sunday, in Peebles, Scotland, and will be in Devon tomorrow (Friday). The Devon stage will be the sixth of this year's tour, covering 85 miles of the county.

The route starts at Sidmouth, eventually passing through Moretonhampstead. It also includes SKODA King of the Mountains climbs at Pennsylvania Road on the outskirts of Exeter, Mamhead, and Six Mile Hill near Dunsford.

2012 Tour de France winner and Olympic time trial gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins, who has ridden the tour in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012, will be among the favourites for the IG Gold Jersey. He will lead the six-man line-up for Team Sky, and will be joined by Ian Stannard, Josh Edmondson, Bernhard Eisel, Mathew Hayman and David Lopez.

Former world road race champion and current British road race champion Mark Cavendish heads up the Omega Pharma - Quick Step team. He will be looking to add to the seven Tour of Britain stage victories that he already has to his name.

Other big name riders who will be competing include 2013 Tour de France runner up Nairo Quintana, Tour de France stage winners Dan Martin and Robbie Hunter, Alessandro Petacchi, Heinrich Haussler and 2013 Milan-San Remo winner Gerald Ciolek.

South West riders Yanto Barker, from Devon, and Chris Opie, from Cornwall, are in the Team UK Youth line-up and there will be a Great Britain team for the second year running.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highways, said: 'Last year was an incredible sporting summer which was reflected by the level of support we saw on our roads during the 2012 Tour of Britain.

'It's fantastic to have Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish return to the Tour for a second consecutive year to compete in this tenth anniversary race.

'It's shaping up to be another exciting Devon stage and we're expecting huge crowds right along the route to see some of the biggest names in professional cycling.

'The historic first of a summit finish at Haytor could make Devon a crucial stage in the race. That means all eyes will be on our county, which is ideal for the local economy in terms of attracting visitors and demonstrating that we are a cycling county.'

Live coverage of The Tour of Britain will be screened every day on ITV4 and British Eurosport, with highlights every evening.