AUTHORITIES in Okehampton are delighted that top cyclists will be speeding through the streets later this year following confirmation this week that the town will feature in the 2014 Tour of Britain route.

At a national launch event in London this week, the tour organisers SweetSpot Group and hosts Devon County Council announced that the Devon stage of the tour — stage five — will start in Exmouth, finish in Exeter and cover around 106 miles of the county, including Okehampton, on Thursday, September 11.

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 Tour of Britain made its way through Okehampton previously in 2012, where a street party type event and various activities were organised by the Okehampton Chamber of Trade and Okehampton Cycle Club to coincide with the passing cyclists.

After hearing news of the tour coming through the town, mayor of Okehampton Cllr the Rev Mike Davies said: 'I think it is absolutely fantastic. It is tremendous news for the town and it brings great excitement with it.

'Last time the event brought lots of people into the town and several thousand people lined the streets. Once word gets out about this I'm sure other events will be planned to coincide with it.'

Chair of Okehampton Chamber of Trade Donna Tombs, who came into the role at the beginning of this year, said she wasn't based in the town last time the tour came through, but was in Tavistock and saw the buzz it created.

She said: 'The tour coming through Okehampton is a really good thing for us. We will have to make sure we are prepared and make the most of the event. Okehampton is on the national cycle route anyway so it is known to a lot of cyclists but this will help to bring other people into the town.

'We need to make sure the businesses take full advantage of the increase of people. It will bring people in that wouldn't otherwise come into the town and if they like what they see, hopefully they will keep coming back. It will be a great opportunity to show the town off. It can only be a huge benefit to us.'

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highway management, said the tour coming through Devon would be great for boosting important cycling trails, including the Granite Way: 'Spectators will be able to watch the race and make a day of it by enjoying a ride on any of these trails,' she said.

It 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 and it has brought 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. The Exeter to Exmouth stage in 2011 was one of our best ever days racing, with fantastic support from the Devon crowds, so 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 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.