Cranbrook – Barnstaple

While there are counties – like Andy’s home of Kent – that rarely stage the race, there are others, like Devon, that host it all the time. This will be the 10th time in 15 editions of the race for Devon. Obviously, it all comes down to money. Just to find the host fee is difficult to justify for many councils when public spending continues to be cut, but for a county like Devon, where tourism is such a big driver of the economy, the Tour of Britain is clearly deemed value for money.

There’s no summit finish, but this is, by Hawes’ reckoning, the toughest parcours of the race. The first KOM, Chineway Hill, just 4km into the stage, is familiar to Cycling Plus – Hawes “put us into a box” during a recce for a previous race guide. From there, the climbs keep coming, with the flattest, fastest part of the stage coming with the finish into Barnstaple.

DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY

Andy Hawes: “People say to me, ‘why have you only got three KOMs on this stage, you could have 10!’ But we’ve only got the technical equipment and signage for three on each stage. Chineway Hill sets the mood – if the riders aren’t going up, they’re going down today.

“The last category climb, Challacombe, summits 20km from the finish and once you’re over that it’s a flat, fast run into the finish. A breakaway that gets over that has a chance of staying away but if they do they’ll be there for the rest to chase down.”