Sports fans in East Devon will have to wait a little while longer to once again enjoy the spectacle of the Tour of Britain cycle race hurtling through their communities.

Although Stage Two of the 2021 event on Monday, September 6, will see riders tackle a 115-mile route between Plymouth and Exeter, the Herald understands that Stage Three will not be heading towards Cranbrook, Ottery and Honiton as it did in 2018.

Details of this year’s third stage are yet to be revealed but a spokesman for the Tour’s marketing team said it would not be coming through Devon this year.

“We’ll be announcing the remainder of the Tour of Britain route in May but I can let you know that Stage Three won’t be in Devon and will be outside of the South West,” he said this week.

“I’m sure we’ll be back to East Devon in future years as the likes of Cranbrook, Ottery and Sidmouth and more have all put on a great show and given massive support for the race.”

The race from Plymouth to Exeter means that this year will be the 12th time that Devon has featured in the Tour of Britain, with more than 1.7 million people having lined the routes here to watch the stages over the years, generating what is reckoned to be £41 million in net economic impact for the local economy.

2021 will be the 11th time that the county has hosted a start or a finish, and the 10th year in which the race has passed through part of the county.

The Tour takes place between Sunday, September 5 and Sunday, September 13, starting from Penzance in Cornwall and finishing in Aberdeen.

The Tour last visited Devon in 2018, when Australian Cameron Meyer won the stage from Cranbrook to Barnstaple, while the 2014 stage, which was the last time a stage finished in Exeter, saw Austrian Matthias Brandle claim victory.

Having been postponed last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s event will be the 17th modern edition of the UK’s biggest bike race.