Clear Favourites Above
Evens: Making the Most of the Outright Cycling Markets
In betting, its
quite rare for a favourite or a couple of favourites to be above the evens
mark. Usually, to offset the demand for the clear favourites, at least one of
them features odds below evens. In the outright cycling markets, however,
its quite a different story.
This years Tour de France threw
a stick into the spokes of the oddsmakers, with the near-unfathomable collapse
of the ever-dominant Ineos Grenadiers opening up the field for next year.
Furthermore, the closely-contested nature of the trying Monument races is on
the horizon, which always offers a substantial opportunity for cycling fans in
the know.
Its the
Netherlands vs Belgium in the classics
Built-up through the
UCI cyclo-cross World Championships, the bookmakers are now following the
wildly talented Belgium Wout van Aert and his long-time Dutch rival, Mathieu
van der Poel, on the cobbles. The entry of these two has swayed the oddsmakers,
with Van Der Poel the 5/2 favourite over Van Aert in the Tour of
Flanders. The Belgian is favoured at 13/5 over the Dutchman for
Paris-Roubaix in the cycling
betting odds.
Make no mistake, despite their relatively long odds
for frontrunners, Van Aert and Van Der Poel are the clear favourites to contend
for each Monument crown. However, the Tour of Flanders' odds , which takes
place on 18 October, the third highest-rated cyclist is Julian Alaphilippe.
Admittedly, the Frenchman is a wild card, and likely deserves shorter odds than
9/1. But that still shows how much the younger rivals are
favoured.
Seeing Van Aert and Van Der Poel compete in
the cobbled classics is one of the main talking points of the
autumn, with this year to set the stage for an enduring rivalry in the
years to come. Its certainly set to be the headline act of the 25 October
Paris-Roubaix meet, with their closest competitor in the odds being Mads
Pedersen at 22/1. So, if betting on the classics in October - even at
relatively long odds, the choice looks to be between the Belgian
26-year-old and the Dutch 25-year-old.
Looking ahead to the Tour de France in 2021
So, the dramatic 2020
Tour de France only just came to a close, with Tadej Pogačar snatching an
all-but-certain
yellow jersey triumph from Primo
Roglič at the final hurdle. However, with the odds
already live, this means that the bookies are still fixated on the results of
the finalised race. Even though he impressed a great deal in his historic
triple-classification Tour, holding PogaÄ?ar as the 6/5 favourite and the
just-short RogliÄ? at 6/4 seems to be pre-emptive.
It
shouldnt be forgotten that Team Sky/Team Ineos/the Ineos Grenadiers have
dominated the Tour de France under Sir Dave Brailsford, claiming seven of the
last general classifications. Its an absurdly well-drilled team
thats stacked with talent. But this year, everything that could go
wrong did. Reigning champion Egan Bernal came in with a back injury and without
several key teammates, who missed out due to injuries
themselves.
As such, assuming that they get back to their usual selves,
especially with some top-class reinforcements already signed on for 2021, Ineos
cannot be counted out. Even if their leader, Bernal, is currently out at
8/1, with teammate Geraint Thomas just back at 16/1.
The biggest cycling
events dont always go as planned. Still, the rivalry on the cobbles and
the eventual resurgence of the Ineos Grenadiers look to offer strong value in
the outright cycling markets.