Giro D'Italia Betting 2012

The Giro D'Italia is one of the biggest events on the cycling calendar and a series which tests the professionals to the limit. The series comes at the start of the British summer and just before the famous Tour de France series in the middle of the summer.

Giro D'Italia betting 2012 will be interesting this year because the defending champion Alberto Contador will not be taking part. The Spaniard was banned for two years after tests proved positive for doping. There are many individuals now in with a chance of winning the various classifications available.

Giro D'Italia Pink Jersey

The Giro D’Italia pink jersey is one of the most coveted jerseys in cycling. It is awarded to the leading cyclist in the series in the overall standings. It is the equivalent of the yellow jersey when it comes to Tour de France. The Giro D'Italia pink jersey could go to a number of different individuals during the 2012 season.

Ivan Basso is a very good bet to secure the pink jersey because he has recent success in this series. Basso won the pink jersey in 2006 and 2010 and this means he could have the edge in terms of experience over his competitors. Basso has been suffering with a couple of little injuries but announced at the back end of 2011 that he thinks 2012 could be his best season in cycling.

Robert Gesink is a great outside bet to win the pink jersey. Gesink has said that he is using the Giro D’Italia as a way to get fit and improve for the Tour de France series. He is one of the most consistent riders on the circuit when he gets everything right and has the conditions in his favour.

Giro D'Italia Stages

The Giro D'Italia stages for the 2012 series are set out with the flat and mid-mountain races at the start with the demanding mountain stages towards the end of the competition. In total there are 21 stages with two individual time trials and one team time trial.

There are two rest days on May 8 and May 21 and the longest flat stage is on May 16 from Assisi to Montecatini Terme totalling 243 kilometres. The hardest stage of all looks set to be the final stage of the series on May 26 which is a 218 kilometre mountain stage.

The 21 stages that will make up Giro D'Italia betting 2012 are; Herning, Herning to Herning, Horsens to Horsens, Verona, Modena to Fano, Urbino to Porto Sant'Elpidio, Recanati to Rocca di Cambio, Sulmona to Lago Laceno, San Giorgo del Sannio to Frosinone, Civitavecchia to Assisi, Assisi to Montecatini Terme, Seravezza to Sestri Levante, Savona to Cervere, Cherasco to Cervinia, Busto Arsizio to Lecco-Pian dei Resinelli, Limone sul Garda to Falzes-Pfalzen, Flazes-Pfalzen to Cortina d'Ampezzo, San Vito di Cadore to Vedelago, Treviso to Alpe di Pampeago, Caldes-Val di Sole to Passo dello Stelvio and Milan.

Giro D'Italia Betting

There are various markets which make up Giro D'Italia betting which are the most popular. Backing the individuals to win specific classifications is one of the most active. There are different classifications for the best overall cyclist, the best sprint cyclist and the best mountain stage cyclist. All of these markets will provide some good odds.

Giro D'Italia betting 2012 will also produce some good odds for the winners of each stage. With Contador out of the picture, many cyclists will now up their game and will see this series as an opportunity to make a name for themselves. Bradley Wiggins is a great example of a cyclist going into the series with form behind him and a chance of winning and flat or mid-mountain stage.