CYCLING BETTING: Live on British Eurosport: from Sat 16.00: Alberto Contador leads the field for the 2010 Tour de France and will be very hard to catch indeed. The UK are sending a bumper sized team.
3700km of gruelling mountain passes and sprint time trials lie ahead for 150 riders in the 97th Tour de France.
The UK has a great representation of cyclists in this year’s Tour, 8 all together, the largest number since 1968. Also, the British-based Sky squad makes its Tour debut this year, the first time that a British team has taken part in the race since ANC-Halfords in 1987. Team Sky are 9/1 with 888sport to win the event, Team RadioShack lead the way at 7/4 with Bluesquare.
Alberto Contador leads the way in the markets, clear fav at 8/13 with Paddy Power. Contador won the event last year for the 2nd time and, after wins in the Tour of Algarve, Vuelta de Castilla and Leon and Paris-Nice in 2010, seems to be well prepared for a 3rd Tour de France title and will be very hard to beat.
2nd fav Andy Schleck is 8/1 at Sportingbet and last year’s runner up can really push a challenge. Lance Armstrong has confirmed that 2010 is his last ever Tour de France and the American will be keen for an 8th win at 11/1 with Blue Square. He managed a 3rd at last year’s race but a shakey start to 2010 does not bode well for Lance.
Cadel Evans, 33/1 with Bet365 will want to get back to his ’07 and ’08 form that saw him get successive 2nd places, and a good 2010 has shown his intentions. He would be a great each-way shout at this year’s event.
For Great Britain, Brad Wiggins rolls in as a 22/1 challeneger with Stan James. Wiggins can expect points and wins on the sprints but he is not the best hill climber and had a bit of a nightmare in the recent Giro D’Italia mountain stages. Whilst Britain have a large number of entries this year, no other rider comes close to the top 20 in terms of odds. Cavendish is 2500/1 with 888sport, Millar 1000/1 at Bet365 and Wegelius 1000/1 at Sportingbet.
Giro D’Italia winner Ivan Basso is marked up at 22/1 with Ladbrokes and the steepness of this year’s tour will really suit the mountain expert. Basso could really be one to look out for after a few years break due to doping scandals.
Keep an eye for all important each-way terms at all of the bookies.
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