Tour de France Betting
The Tour de France is the premier event in the cycling betting calendar. The competition, which has been run annually since the start of the last century, is a grueling contest in which teams of cyclists slug it out over long routes in France during the many stages that make up the event. The Tour de France is held in July of each year and takes three weeks to complete its numerous stages.
Since the Tour de France is the most popular event in cycling, online bookmakers offer numerous markets for the event. Alongside odds for outright win, it is common for bookmakers to supply odds for "match-ups" or "head to heads" between individual cyclists. The famous yellow, green, and polka-dot jerseys worn at stages by cyclists also tend to draw considerable betting attention. Online bookmakers tend to offer markets for these important features of the competition and fixed odds are generally available for such classifications as the famed "King of the Mountains".
Tour de France 2006 Betting
The 2006 Tour de France will start from Strasbourg on the 1st July and finish in Paris on the 23rd.
Bookmakers and Markets
Most online bookmakers are offering outright win markets for this year's competition, but fans of the event can find a wider selection of markets at some of the following sites:
Bet365 have markets for king of the mountains and point classification, and also offer fixed "match-up" odds. The betting exchange Betfair also boast a good selection of markets for the 2006 event, including head to heads, green and polka dot jersey markets, team classification markets and odds for both top 3 and top 6 finish. Victor Chandler are fairly unique in supplying what they call "trio" bets, while SkyBet are offering odds for how many riders will finish and the winning margin alongside standard points classification, king of the mountains, and "matchbet" markets.
Cycling enthusiasts may also like to try Paddy Power for outright team win and jersey markets, although our bookmaker of choice for this year's event has to be Sporting Odds, who, out of all the suppliers we checked, had the most extensive range of betting options for the Tour de France, including points classification winner, points classification head to head, king of the mountains winner, king of the mountains head to head, podium finish, and more.
If you would like to place a free bet on a cycling event, please check the Free Bets for the above suppliers.