Team UK Youth target Tour of Britain 'home stage' in Devon

Top British pro cycling team Team UK Youth is determined to make its mark in this year’s 10th anniversary Tour of Britain, targeting success at its 'home stage' in Devon.

The Devon Stage (Stage Six), hosted by Devon County Council, will see the race’s biggest ever field of 114 riders head from sea to summit on Friday 20 September. The 85 mile (137 km) route will start at Sidmouth on the Jurassic Coast and finish at Haytor in Dartmoor National Park, the first ever summit finish in the history of the race.

Among the record 19 teams competing in Britain’s premier cycle race are Sky Professional Cycling Team, Omega Pharma – Quick Step, Garmin-Sharp, Cannondale Pro Cycling and Movistar, which will be racing in The Tour of Britain for the first time.

Team UK Youth, owned by former F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell, is enjoying its most successful season ever. After winning the Pearl Izumi Tour Series earlier this year they will be leading the charge of domestic teams. The team includes Yanto Barker, from Devon, and Chris Opie, from Cornwall, who both won two rounds of the Tour Series. They are aiming to continue their fine run of form, with Stage wins and challenging for Jerseys a genuine target.

Yanto, who grew up in Totnes and was the top British rider in the 2005 Tour, said: “I am really looking forward to this year’s Tour of Britain. It is a pleasure to ride in such a high profile event, and combined with the stage in Devon, it’s a real nostalgic feeling racing in such elite company on my local roads where I trained when I was 14 and 15 years old. I used to ride imagining I was in the break of a big pro race which motivated me to train hard then, and now to go back in a big pro race with a real chance of being in the break is an extra motivation to do well. My aim for this year is to demonstrate we at UK Youth are a class and professional team; we have demonstrated this week after week in UK races but its important to myself, the team and Nigel himself that we show this on a world stage. All that Nigel has put together has been amazing to be part of and it would be great to repay his investment with some international results. All the boys will be highly motivated and ready to give everything, I personally can’t wait.

Chris Opie, from Cornwall, said: “I learnt a lot from last year’s race and hopefully I can put that to good use to improve on every aspect and see what we can do in each stage. The route of this year’s Devon Stage is potentially even harder than last year, with two seriously tough climbs at the finish. It’ll be a fantastic stage no matter what happens.”

The Devon Stage includes SKODA King of the Mountains climbs at Pennsylvania Road on the outskirts of Exeter, Mamhead, as well as Six Mile Hill on Dartmoor. There are also Yodel Sprints outside Blundell’s School in Tiverton, through Exeter High Street and also at Chudleigh.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “The Tour of Britain is always a fantastic event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the county and I’m delighted that Yanto and Chris are looking forward to the Devon Stage. This year’s anniversary Tour is gearing up to be extra special with more world class teams and a record number of riders racing through our county.”

It will be the seventh year that Devon has featured in The Tour. The event has brought in more than £21 million to the local economy in that time. Last year’s Devon Stage generated more than £7.3 million in the county in a record breaking year watched by more than 220,000 spectators along the route in Devon.

Mick Bennett, Race Director of The Tour of Britain, said: “This year’s Tour of Britain will have a world-class line-up bringing a number of international stars to race on British roads, while at the same time allowing our top domestic teams and a Great Britain squad to race on the biggest stage possible for them. The make-up of teams will provide another exciting and unpredictable Tour from a racing perspective, whether you are watching at the roadside or at home on the live television coverage.”

For more information on The Tour of Britain, visit: www.southwesttourofbritain.co.uk and www.tourofbritain.co.uk and on Twitter follow @SWTourofBritain.

For information on cycling go to www.cycledevon.info , www.dartmoor.gov.uk , www.teignbridge.gov.uk , www.eastdevon.gov.uk

The complete list of teams for the 2013 Tour of Britain are:

UCI Pro Teams
Cannondale Pro Cycling (Ita)
Garmin – Sharp (USA)
Movistar (Spa)
Omega Pharma – Quick Step (Bel)
Sky Pro Cycling (GBr)

UCI Pro Continental Teams
Bardiani Valvole – CSF Inox (Ita)
IAM Cycling (Swi)
MTN Qhubeka p.b Samsung (RSA)
Sojasun (Fra)
Team NetApp Endura (Ger)
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling (USA)

UCI Continental Teams
AN Post Chain Reaction (Irl)
Madison Genesis (GBr)
Node4 Giordana Racing (GBr)
Rapha Condor JLT (GBr)
Team IG Sigma Sport (GBr)
Team Raleigh (GBr)
Team UK Youth (GBr)

National Teams

Great Britain (GBr)

Photo: Team UK Youth (Photo: i4lcocl2 / Shutterstock.com)