Even if you’re not a cycling fan, you have to love the pageantry of the Tour de France. This is the crown jewel of the three Grand Tour races (alongside the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia), and that comes from an outsized amount of attention. Sports lovers across the world will tune in by the millions at some point or another during this three-week competition, and the entire race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Gold in the United States.
The Tour de France is beginning to regain some of its previous luster. The race drew huge numbers in the United States when Lance Armstrong was dominating the competition, but Armstrong’s doping bust followed by the positive tests of Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador stunned the competition and the entire sport of cycling. That led to nine yellow jackets being forfeited in a 12-year span, but cycling has been much more clean over the last decade.
Odds to Win the 2020 Tour de France
Primoz Roglic +199
Egan Bernal +233
Thibaut Pinot +811
Tom Dumoulin +875
Tadej Pogacar +1077
Richard Carapaz +1200
Julian Alaphilippe +2000
Emanuel Buchmann +2500
Nairo Quintana +2800
All Other Riders +3300 or More
Although he has yet to win the Tour de France, Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic is the favorite ahead of this race. Roglic claimed the 2019 Vuelta a España after missing out on participating in the 2019 Tour de France, and he claimed individual stage wins in the 2017 and 2018 races. However, he probably shouldn’t be the favorite for this race as according to Cycling News, he is considered questionable to participate after suffering a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine. Roglic reportedly has been dealing with a hip issue and some gnarly road rash, and his wife appeared to be skeptical about his status on Monday night.
That should make Bernal the favorite to repeat as Tour de France champion. He won this race at the tender age of 22 years old, and the best is still to come for the new star of Team Ineos. Bernal’s chances were given a huge boost when it was announced that Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas would not be racing in this year’s Tour de France, and he posted the second-fastest time in this history of this competition in 2019. We didn’t see Bernal take the yellow jersey until Stage 19 last year, but he will want to make an earlier move this year.
The 2019 Tour de France was an agonizing experience for Thibaut Pinot. He was forced to bow out in the middle of Stage 19 after tearing a thigh muscle the previous day, ending his hopes at claiming his first Tour de France title. Pinot was less than two minutes behind leader Julian Alaphilippe before exiting the competition, so the 2014 Tour de France Young Rider winner knows he can hang with the heavy hitters. A Frenchman hasn’t won this race since Bernard Hinault in 1985, so France would be overjoyed to see Pinot change that.
Tom Dumoulin might be the best time trial rider in the competition, but he is looking to prove he can win the Tour de France too. Dumoulin won the 2017 Giro d’Italia, and he finished runner-up at both the 2018 Giro d’Italia and the 2018 Tour de France. However, he failed to finish any of the three Grand Tour races last year, after a bad crash early in the Giro d’Italia sidelined him for a few months. Dumoulin came in seventh at the five-stage Criterium du Dauphine two weeks ago.
Perhaps the most intriguing cyclist entering this competition is 20-1 longshot Julian Alaphilippe. The French cyclist won the mountains classification at the 2018 Tour de France, and he led last year’s competition for most of the way before falling off and finishing fifth. He is the favorite to win the mountains classification once more, but he will be somewhat hampered in the 2020 Tour de France as there are only three true mountain stages prior to the last week.
Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best Cycling Betting Odds, Cycling Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!
