Tour De France Betting 2009
Body contour-hugging, dayglo-coloured Lycra, water bottles as far as the eye can see and tannoy-wielding people in cars weaving between a throng of cyclists in mountain passes can only herald the start of one thing as far as both the professional cycling and online betting community are concerned. Yup, the 2009 #Tour de France# is homing in on a European horizon once again, so we’re here to give free bets and race fanatics the low-down on all the highlights you can expect this summer when both man/machine and punters are under starter’s orders.
July sees the start of the 2009 Tour de France cycle race which pits the world’s best riders against one another (albeit in team colours) as all participants attempt to circumnavigate some of the most demanding and unequivocally physically and mentally challenging cycling stages found anywhere, so as to test individuals skill set and resolve when the going gets tough.
2009 Tour De France Opens Up Plenty Of Free Betting Opportunities
In terms of the betting landscape, and as usual there’s a plethora of #free betting# opportunities on offer for #cycling# fans looking to add some more interest in the event as is pans out. Aside from trying to predict the outright 2009 Tour de France winner, you can place a wager on any of the following permeations too; ‘Team to win a stage, Green jersey winner (stages), Winning nationality, Individual rider to win a stage’ as just a few examples that are up for grabs with a host of leading online bookmakers.
Tour De France Outright Winners 2009
Contador (5-8) is installed as pre-race favourite, narrowly taking the advantage away from Armstrong (4-1 on average), whilst Schleck (9-1), Evans (12-1), Leipheimer (12-10, Menchov (22-1) and Sastre (22-1) are also front runners at this juncture in online betting proceedings.
Back in March the 20 teams that would compete in this year’s marathon event were whittled down and announced by the Tour de France organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation; throwing up no great surprises to anyone involved. By overlooking the Fuji-Servetto outfit (the team formerly known as Saunier Duval) those privy to the decision-making process hinted that failed blood tests for a banned performance-enhancing substance by two high profile team riders during last year’s event was undoubtedly the moot point. And suggests the team would have to do more than just change their name to distance themselves from the retrospective controversy.
Unfortunately another omission from the starting line-up in July will be British-based cycling ensemble, Barloworld; which effectively meant no saddle for Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings and Chris Froome in the forthcoming spectacle that remains at the apex of the professional cycling calendar.
Other notable British rider fare better however, as both David Millar and Bradley Wiggins will be representing the Garmin-Slipstream team, while Mark Cavendish will pull on the jersey of Columbia-Highroad. Elsewhere, and Charly Wegelius (Silence-Lotto) and Roger Hammond, Jeremy Hunt, Daniel Lloyd and Daniel Fleeman will sport the corporate colours of Cervelo Team Test before the starting pistol is fired in Monaco on Saturday July the 4th.
British Olympian Cavendish if you recall grabbed the headlines in 2008 by winning no less than four stages of the Tour de France, proving his sprint capabilities in style. Making the early news running ahead of this year’s event is the inclusion of the Astana squad, and in particular the focus on previous race winners – and Astana new boys - Alberto Contador and a certain Lance Armstrong. Due to a doping furore surrounding the outfit in the 2007 Tour they were excluded en masse from last year’s outing.
2009 Tour De France Return For Seven Times Champion Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong of course is bidding for an unprecedented eighth Tour de France title, returning in a blaze of publicity after a three and a half year absence brought about by his public battle against cancer. This is despite suffering a badly timed setback during the recent Tour of Castilla y Leon in Spain earlier this season, the resultant injury of which – a broken collarbone – could hamper his continued preparations for this summer’s showpiece event.
With such an injury normally taking a month to six weeks to repair there’s no doubt it’s put a spanner in the works of Armstrong’s fine-tuned machine-like approach to the Tour de France in only his second cycling event since coming out of retirement to compete on the highly competitive European tour again. After posted successively encouraging results at both the Tour Down Under and the Tour of California so far in 2009, Armstrong, 37 made his first start on the continent at the Milan-San Remo event most recently, and although finishing in 125th position was happy with the progress he was making as his high profile comeback trail gathered the necessary momentum ahead of the Tour de France.
Interspersed with individual time trials – 55 kilometres in total, and 38k for team time trials - the course takes in some of mainland Europe’s most vividly arresting scenery and panoramic vistas and set against some truly breathtaking backdrops. Initial coastal routes that hug the Mediterranean blend with the more habitual Alpine and Pyrenean jaunts that ensure the riders encounter every sort of road surface and gradient test as they compete at the highest possible level of physical endurance.
There are 21 stages to contest from beginning to end, which consist on a raft of high altitude mountain-top finishes that require digging into rider reserves amid formidable terrain. Three days are spent in the Pyrenees, three more taking in the Alps, one in Jura and a further day circumnavigating Mount Ventoux.
Of all the 11 nations competing in the 2009 Tour de France – the 96th occasion the event has been run - the contingent representative from the home nation is the most prevalent in terms of numbers, with five French teams having been invited to participate in a race that finishes in Paris on Sunday July the 26th, three weeks and 3,450 gruelling kilometres after the bikes left their starting blocks.
