Cycling stars of the future will visit Woodbury School next Thursday in the run up to the return of the Tour of Britain to the county.

Team Qoroz, the under-23 cycling team run by the South West Bike Academy, is making the visit to encourage pupils to take up cycling, or cycle more often.

The visit, which also includes pupils from Woodbury Salterton and Lympstone, has been organised by the county council and comes ahead of the Devon stage of The Tour of Britain on Thursday, September 15.

Devon County Council is hosting stage five of the tour, covering 110 miles (180km) of the county, starting in Exeter and finishing in Exmouth.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “The Tour of Britain and the school visits by Team Qoroz are effective ways to inspire the next generation of cyclists in Devon, and they can encourage children to take an interest in cycling.

“One of our aims is to create a genuine cycling legacy, to ensure Devon is a cycling county. In the long term, we want more people to be able to choose to cycle regularly on their journey to school or work, as well as during their free-time.”

Team Qoroz has seven riders aged between 16 and 23 who all hail from the region; Ben Stockdale, Luke Dunbar, Matt Ullmer, Tom Stockdale, Scott Law, Mikey Thelwell and Jack Reed.

For more information call:http://www.devontourofbritain.co.uk/schools/