HUGE crowds and glorious sunshine came out across Devon on Thursday as the Friends Life Tour of Britain raced through the county.

Stage Five of this year’s Tour, hosted by Devon County Council, was the eighth consecutive year that Britain’s biggest cycling race had visited the county. The Stage started in Exmouth on East Devon’s Jurassic Coast with a welcome from the fans as warm as the weather.

Visitors, schoolchildren, cycling fans and local communities turned out right along the 110 mile (177 km) route which took in Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury, Topsham, Exminster, Starcross, Bovey Tracey, Haytor, Widecombe in the Moor, Princetown, Tavistock, Okehampton, Copplestone and Crediton as it wound its way to an exciting finale in Exeter High Street.

Among the 114 riders lining up in the race at the start of the day were Sir Bradley Wiggins of Sky Pro Cycling, Mark Cavendish of Omega Pharma Quick-Step, and Marcel Kittel of Team Giant Shimano.

Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski, of Omega Pharma Quick-Step, started the day in the Friends Life Yellow Jersey and his team led the chase as four riders formed a breakaway group. The small lead group - Matthias Brandle of IAM Cycling, Maarten Wynants of Belkin Pro Cycling Team, Andreas Stauff of MTN-Qhubeka, and Shane Archbold of An Post Chainreaction – swept up the lions share of points in the Skoda King of the Mountains and YodelDirect Sprints classifications but it did not affect the lead of those competitions.

An Post Chainreaction rider Mark McNally came to the front of the peloton to pick up points at climbs at Mamhead and Haytor, almost ensuring he will clinch the Skoda King of the Mountains competition. Haytor, which was the scene of last year's summit finish, was again packed with thousands of spectators as the route took the riders across Dartmoor.

But it was the final Skoda King of the Mountains climb at Stoke Woods, on the outskirts of Exeter, which proved decisive, disrupting the efforts of the chasing pack. The breakaway riders still had a lead as they approached the climb but Austrian Brandle broke away from his fellow escapees to take a solo victory in Exeter High Street, eight seconds ahead of Archbold in second and Wynants in third.

Michal Kwiatkowski finished seventh to keep the Friends Life Yellow Jersey with three stages remaining. He maintains a three second lead over Edoardo Zardini of Bardiani CSF in second place. Ireland’s Nicolas Roche of Tinkoff-Saxo is fourth overall, 14 seconds behind, and Sir Bradley Wiggins is 27 seconds behind in sixth.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for cycling, said: “Year after year people across Devon have turned out in their droves to support this event and they have done themselves proud again today. It has been excellent to see such impressive crowds across the county again and hopefully we may have matched last year's record of 250,000 spectators.”

Councillor Iain Chubb, East Devon District Council’s Cabinet Member for the environment, said: ”East Devon residents and visitors were out in force in Exmouth this morning to watch the start of Stage Five and cheer world-class riders. Among the glorious sunshine, colour and excitement of international cycling, we’ve once again been given a fantastic opportunity to showcase our peerless Jurassic Coast to national and international audiences.”

Councillor Rosie Denham, Exeter City Council’s Lead Councillor for Economy and Culture, said: “The turnout has been fantastic, as we knew it would be. People in Exeter, and Devon as a county, love cycling; it’s brilliant to see how much passion there is for the sport here and we’d love to see it come back.”

Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of Sweetspot Group which organises The Tour, said: “It’s always great to be in our spiritual home of Devon. Today’s stage was again way beyond our expectations and proves what a popular event this is in Devon. It’s thanks to the people involved in engaging clubs, schoolchildren and local communities that make it a great day out. The size of the crowds never ceases to amaze me and we can’t wait to come back in 2016.”

In the eight years that Devon has featured in The Tour, the race has brought in more than £27 million for the local economy and showcased the county to a worldwide television audience. Last year’s Devon Stage generated almost £6 million in the local economy when a record breaking 250,000 spectators lined the route.

Highlights of the Devon Stage will be shown on ITV4 and British Eurosport this evening, with live coverage of Stage Six from Bath to Hemel Hempstead continuing on ITV4 tomorrow.