Sidbury to see Tour of Britain competitors

SIDMOUTH and Sidford s Devon County Councillor, Stuart Hughes hopes people will turn out to support competitors in the Tour of Britain contest, which comes through Sidbury and Sidford today (Friday).

SIDMOUTH and Sidford's Devon County Councillor, Stuart Hughes hopes people will turn out to support competitors in the Tour of Britain contest, which comes through Sidbury and Sidford today (Friday).

DCC's cabinet member for highways and transportation, Mr Hughes said: "The sense of anticipation has been building for months, but there is real excitement now that the race is well and truly underway and is on our doorstep.

"Some of the events being put on by our local communities to support The Tour should make this a really colourful occasion that people will talk about for years and I can't wait to see it. Hopefully it might inspire people to take up cycling or to get back on their bikes."

If crowds match the 107,000 estimated to have lined the route last year, then riders will be roared on as they cover 346km of roads across Devon and Somerset.

Last year's Tour stage in the South West generated �1.859 million for local businesses in Devon and Somerset.

Although Britain's Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of the race to focus on next week's Time Trials World Championships, there are plenty of top-class riders to see as they reach Trow Hill, Sidmouth, at around 12.30pm today.

They include last year's Tour of Britain winner Geoffroy Lequatre, and Tour of Ireland winner Russell Downing, as well as Britain's Olympic medallists Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy and Rob Hayles.

See our sports pages for more details of where the cyclists will be during the Devon stage.