Tour de France 2018 – Analysis, insight and betting tips

Tour de France 2018
The 2018 Tour de France will begin in Vendee on 7th July and finish on 29th July, with Chris Froome the Englishman once again defending the yellow jersey.

The run up to the event has been nothing short of sensational with Froome coming under intense criticism following his usage of a substance for the treatment of asthma. Some quarters in the cycling world belive Froome has been cheating the system by using a medication that can affect performance. His team have also been heavily criticised for backing their No 1 star.

The facts are that the medication has not been proven to enhance performance and Froome has been tottaly open with the press about what the medication does and why he uses it.

Emough of the conspiracy theories, lets get on with the important stuff.

Tour De France 2018 – The Teams
In 2018 their will be 22 teams each with a team of 8 riders, a total of 176 riders that will depart on this grueling journey through France. This year the tour will also cross into Spain for a very short stint but the overall distance of 3351 kilometres will be a test of both mental and physical endurance.

The tour has always favoured a rider who can mix speed and stamina and that is why there is a combination of flat (speed based) and mountain (stamina based) stages to find the ventual champion who will take the yellow jersey.

Englishman Froome is a heavy favorite to retain his title but other riders will have other thoughts.

Who will emerge as Chris Froome’s major threats?
The Colombians have already been knocked out of the World Cup by England but Movistar team lead Nairo Quintana will be chasing Froome hard and trying to make up for his countrymen’s efforts.

The Colombian finished a fine third in the recent Tour of Switzerland behind another of the main protagonists for the title, Richie Porte from the BMC Team. It is interesting to note that Porte did not win a single stage in that event which shows just how tough the Australian is when it comes down to grinding out a result.

Portes BMC team mate Mikel Landa is another to keep an eye on with s teady record in the big events.

Tour de France 2018 – The Jersey’s
If you have followed sport for any amount of time then you will surely have heard of the famous YELLOW JERSEY which was synonymous with Eddie Merc.

The three main jerseys on the Tour De France are:

– Yellow Jersey for the individual general classification sponsored by LCL.
– Green Jersey for the points’ classification sponsored by Škoda.
– Polka dot Jersey for the best climber’s classification sponsored by Carrefour.

Tour de France 2018 – The Stages
This year will see the three thousand kilometre plus journey take in:

8 flat stages
5 medium severity mountain stages
6 severe mountain stages (with 3 mountain top finishes
1 individual time trial
1 team time trial

Tour de France 2018 – Betting tips and analysis
If you want to have a bet on the 2018 Tour de France then there are plenty of markets you can look at.

Outright Winner

Chris Froome is a very short price in this market at around 6/4 and that looks very short considering the potential for accidents and damaged equipment. There is always a danger of a rider being bought down and this just looks a crazy price.

Bigger value alternatives look to be the Australian Porte who can be backed at 5/1 or Quintana at 10/1 which looks to be interesting considering he was not at peak fitness for the Swiss tour. It looks like he is peaking at just the right time.

King of the Mountains

The part of the tour which really sorts out the field, and you want a specialist climber on your side in this market.

Warren Barguil won this category last year and is a solid 3/1 favorite this time around, but going back to our theme of The current World Cup it is the Belgian rider Thomas De Gendt who looks overpriced at 12/1.

De Gendt finish third in this classification last year and there seems to be no reason why he won’t finish in the top 3 once again with Corals and Ladbrokes giving the best price.

Top 10 Finish

Some very short prices here but one rider that looks outstanding value at 25/1 is Mikel Nieve the Spaniard. This year he rides for a different team and will be out to prove Team Sky wrong.

Nieve did nothing wrong last year when finishing 14th in the overall classification and looks way overpriced to go a few spots better this year.

Tour de France 2018 – Interesting Facts
1. The longest stage in this years tour is Stage 7 from Fougeres to Chartres and measures out at 231 KM
2. The highest point the riders will reach on this years tour is 2215 metres above sea level
3. The medical service for the tour includes 10 doctors, 7 nurses, 7 ambulances, 2 high speed medical cars with doctors and one specialist radiology unit
4. The event will be broadcast live across the world to 190 countries.
5. Across the whole event their will be a live audience of between 10-12 million roadside spectators.

So the 2018 edition of the tour promises to be another spectacular event.