Tour of Britain is a £2.1 million success

The national organisers of the Tour of Britain have hailed the success of the Northumberland stages of the race - and want to bring the race back to the county in 2017.

Figures from a new report from race organisers, Sweetspot, show that the direct economic impact of hosting the Aviva Tour of Britain in Northumberland was £2.13 million.

The county hosted the event, the UK’s largest professional cycle race, over two days in September with 20 of the world’s best cycling teams racing across Northumberland to an exciting race finish in Blyth with a race start in Prudhoe the following day.

The total number of spectators who watched the race in Northumberland was 115,000. Of these 21% came from outside the North East region and 23% stayed overnight.

During the two days, the TV audience average viewing figures for the Northumberland stages were more than 300,000. The audience for the Stage highlights ‘Edinburgh to Blyth’ was 519,000 – the highest figure for all eight stages.

The programmes were broadcast by 13 broadcasters in 129 countries or territories - a total potential reach of 116.5 million people.