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Clear Favourites Above Evens:
Making the Most of the Outright Cycling Markets
 
 
 
In betting, it’s 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, it’s quite a different story.

This year’s 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.

It’s 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. It’s 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 Primož Rogli菍 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 shouldn’t 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. It’s an absurdly well-drilled team that’s 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 don’t 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.
 
 

 
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