Places features

The South West Stage will be held on Tuesday, 9 September, when dozens of cyclists will pass through Withypool, Exford and Wheddon Cross on Exmoor, before zipping through Dunster, Williton, Bishops Lydeard and the Quantock Hills.

Hilly terrain will sort the winners from the pack

The riders will pass through two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a national park, then arrive at the competition's first coastal finish in Burnham-on-Sea.

It is widely expected to provide the greatest physical challenge of the entire competition and could be a decisive moment in determining the winners and losers.

Somerset County Council is hosting the event and says it will bring big economic benefits to the area; attract thousands of visitors and 'put Somerset on the map'.

But what does that mean? And how do you measure it?

Many traders in Taunton said the event had a negative impact on their businesses last year, despite attracting crowds of up to 70,000 people along the length of the route.

Paul Willitt, president of Taunton Chamber of Commerce said: “The decision to bring the Tour to Somerset and Taunton was a good idea.

"And I think it probably raised our profile.

Rolling road blocks will be used again

“But the feedback we had from small and large businesses, both immediately on the day and throughout the following weeks, was that it was a bit of a disaster for our members.”

Mr Willitt said it wasn’t made clear enough to people that whilst the roads were closed to traffic, the centre was still open for business and shopping.

Graham Bagley, Tour of Britain project manager, said the organisers had learnt from last year’s experience and did not expect a repeat of the disruptions.

He said: “The road closures will be a lot more restricted and a lot smaller.”

In terms of economic benefits for the area, he estimated the event had generated around half a million pounds, compared with the council’s £150,000 outlay.

The Tour of Britain reaches Exford

Other partners supporting the event include Devon County Council, South Somerset District Council, Exmoor National Park Authority and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.

Mr Bagley said the notional value to towns along the route, (i.e what it would have cost to get that sort of publicity from an advert in the press) was approximately £575,000.

But Richard Coleman, disputes the amount.

Mr Coleman is the principal researcher at Sheffield Hallam's Sport Industry Research Centre.

He said although no study had been done for Somerset or the South West, in the three years his department had been researching the costs and benefits of the Tour of Britain across the rest of the stages, in the North West, South East, West Midlands and Scotland, only London had achieved that level of expenditure.

He put it down to the fact London followed a circular route which meant people spent much longer at the event, typically all day and spent more money as a result.

The South West Stage is the longest ride

His study was based on interviews conducted with people in the crowd. He asked them how much they were spending, estimated the crowd size, and fed the data into an economic model.

He said: “If £150,000 is what the South West puts in to attract to the tour to the region, you’re probably looking at a visitor spend of around £250- 300,000 in the host economy. That’s additional money coming in from outside the region.

“The trick is to encourage people to stay around longer in the region.

“I’m sceptical whether the Tour of Britain does that here, given you stand around for an hour waiting for it to come. There’s a blinding flash of light and then it’s gone.”

Mr Bagley said the organisers were planning more roadside entertainment and hoped 2008 would be even better than before.