Tour of Britain: East Devon spectators guide

Spectators have 174km (108miles) of Devon’s roads to choose from when it comes to watching the Devon Stage Tour of Britain on Monday 3 September.

The race is being hosted by Devon County Council, supported by East Devon District Council and North Devon Council and working with Cranbrook Town Council and Barnstaple Town Council.

Stage 2 of the race starts in one of the UK’s newest towns, Cranbrook in East Devon and finishes in Barnstaple, North Devon.

Crowds are being tipped to exceed 2016’s record of 260,000 spectators that lined the route in Devon.

And once again the advice is to leave plenty of time to travel to where you’re planning to watch the action, to avoid delays.

As well as the start and finish venues, there are some exciting places on the route to see 120 of the world’s top professional cyclists. The stage takes in communities including Cranbrook, Ottery St Mary, Tiverton, South Molton, Combe Martin, Ilfracombe, Combe Martin and Barnstaple.

Among the top class British riders taking part this year are Tour de France winners Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome while Devon's George Pym is also in the line-up.

Other world-leadingcyclists to throw their hat into the ring this year include Primož Roglic who won Tour de France stages in 2017 and 2018 and finished 4th in this year’s race.

He has been described as one of the most exciting riders in the world – the fastest descender in the peloton.

Andre Greipel, a five-time stage winner in the Tour of Britain race, and 11 times stage winner in the Tour de France is also competing, as are Marcel Kittel and Alex Dowsett, both former stage winners and race leaders in the Tour of Britain.

Places to watch

There are four SKODA King of the Mountains and three Sprints to watch this year:

Sprints
Sprint 1: Tiverton (Blundells Road) 12:27pm
Sprint 2: Nomansland 12:51pm
Sprint 3: Landkey 1:40pm

King of the Mountains (KOM)
KoM 1: Chineway (Ottery St Mary) - the 2.9-kilometre climb averages around 5% 11:21am
KoM 2: Bratton Fleming – 1:56PM
KoM 3: Challacombe (Woolacombe) – 2:52pm

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council's Cabinet Member for Highways with responsibility for cycling said: "This year promises to be the best Devon stage ever held, and given the quality of the previous Devon stages that's saying something.

"There's local interest with Devon's George Pym, who was inspired to take up cycling after watching the Tour Series in Exeter 2009 racing for Madison Genesis and with elite cyclists like Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, Roglic and Greipal, it’s certainly the strongest Tour of Britain line-up I've ever seen.

"And it’s all free to watch, so dust off your bike, cycle to a nice spot with some friends, soak up the atmosphere and have a great day!"

Councillor Tom Wright, East Devon District Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment said: "The people of East Devon will welcome the Tour of Britain second stage and will be keen to a support Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. There will be great opportunities to see the race on the course and also for spectators to gather at the start in Cranbrook. There will inevitably be some disruption so please look out for and heed the advice we and others will be issuing in the next few days. This is especially important for users of Cranbrook rail station.”

Cranbrook Town Council Chairman, Cllr Kevin Blakey said: "The Tour is now only a matter of days away, and the excitement is building as we look forward to seeing many of the world’s best cyclists in this huge sporting event. We are looking forward to welcoming the crowds that will be heading to the start of Stage 2 in Cranbrook. Dare I say that even the weather forecast looks good? It’s going to be a great day!"

Events

Cranbrook will host a programme of festivities across the weekend to mark the start of Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain.

Cranbrook Healthy New Town Programme and the Cranbrook and Exeter Sport England project will join forces with other partners to create a ‘Healthy Street’ at the Cranbrook event village at the startof the race.

Free porridge will be served up with a choice of healthy toppings and Cranbrook residents will be invited to make a pledge to help make Cranbrook more active, with the chance to win a Cranbrook Tour of Britain commemorative T-shirt.

Cranbrook Pharmacy and Cranbrook Medical Practice will be providing advice and guidance on all health matters and offering a simple health check.

Cranbrook Sugar Smart will be helping people cut down their sugar consumption, and Move More Cranbrook will be promoting the benefits of walking and cycling.

And on the Sunday (2 September) the third annual Cranbrook fun run will take place to coincide with the tour launch. Participants can take part in a 5k run or a 2k family fun run. For more information or to enter the run visit https://www.cranbrookfunrun.co.uk/#1

Cranbrook Healthy New Town Programme Manager Louise Cole said: “The Tour of Britain Stage 2 start shines a spotlight on Cranbrook, a brand new town that is part of a national programme funded by NHS England - one of ten demonstrator sites across the country working with the community and a range of partners which are changing the way we plan and build places for people where health and wellbeing is a priority and the best opportunities to be happy, healthy and active are created by everyone.”

How will this affect you?

To accommodate the Tour of Britain, it is necessary to suspend parking and close a number of roads on Monday 3 September.

This will limit vehicle access to businesses and some properties.

We are working hard to keep road closures to a minimum, but you may need to make alternative travel, parking and / or delivery and collection arrangements. We encourage people to allow plenty of time for their journey, and to walk, cycle or use public transport where possible.

Road closures

There will be fixed road closures in place in the start and finish locations – Cranbrook and Barnstaple and rolling road closures all along the route of the race enforced by police and civilian motorcycles.

The rolling road closures will only be in effect for a limited period to allow the race and race vehicles to travel through towns and villages safely and to allow residents, businesses and visitors ample opportunity to see the event safely. Every effort will be made to re-open the roads as soon as it is safe to do so.

Please note, road closures and times may change due to race conditions. https://www.devontourofbritain.co.uk/road-closures/

Cranbrook Road Closures

Younghayes Road from Three Corner Field to St Michael’s way will be closed from 4:30am until 2:00pm
Burrough Fields and the Cranbrook Station car park will be closed from 6:00am until 2:00pm
Tillhouse Road will be a ‘clearway’ (no parking), except for designated parking bays.
Court Royal will be a ‘clearway’ (no parking).
St Michael’s Way will be a ‘clearway’ (no parking) and bus diversion route.

Getting there

Follow this link for travel information: https://www.devontourofbritain.co.uk/getting-there/cranbrook-spectator-g...

Disabled parking
A small number of disabled parking spaces have been made available at the Taylor Wimpey offices on the Younghayes roundabout.

Spectators with disabilities

There will be a viewing platform for spectators with disabilities and their carers outside the Co-op.

Spaces on the platform and within the parking are limited so will need to be booked in advance. To book a parking and viewing place, please email tourofbritain@devon.gov.uk with the following information: