Tour de France | Bet on Tour de France Cycling

Even if you have absolutely nothing with cycling, you can’t deny the phenomenon that is the Tour de France. Some put off their holidays for three weeks. It’s the exception to the rule that you can’t sit inside during summer. For a while, nothing is more important than that yellow jersey. Add betting on Tour de France to that and you understand how a very nice summer tradition can emerge.

The Tour de France has this mythical status for a reason. It is the oldest multi-day cycling race for a start, but France’s unique landscape and climate make this ‘course of courses’ what it is: challenging, versatile and unpredictable.

Whereas in Spain and Italy the riders usually have to endure three weeks of relentless heat, in the Tour de France there’s a good chance you ride the cobblestones soaking wet. This also makes betting on Tour de France just a little more interesting than betting on those two other classics that make up the three ‘Grand Tours’.

Enough reason for Mobile Wins to give the Tour some extra love, so that you can be well prepared to bet on the Tour de France. That is because when it comes to betting opportunities, you’re also in for 3 week ride.

Structure of Tour de France

Since 1967, the Tour de France has started with a so-called prologue. This is an individual time trial about 8 kilometres long. If the time trial is significantly longer than 8 kilometres, it is considered the first stage. The prologue does not usually take place in France itself, for promotional purposes. In 2015 for example, the prologue took place in Utrecht in The Netherlands. 

After the prologue, there are twenty stages through France, although sometimes the French border is also crossed during a stage. These twenty stages are interrupted by (only) two rest days. Each year the start and finish locations vary, but not the whole country is visited every year.

However, the final stage is fixed; a ceremonial stage that arrives at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Due to the global attention, there is great competition for start and finish locations of the tour by municipalities every year. 

The first week of the tour is dominated by sprints. Flat stages where the specialists take the day’s victory. After this week, the tour caravan dives into the Alps and Pyrenees. From then on, the classification riders come into the picture. The tough mountain stages are interspersed with individual time trials and stages with lower category climbs.

Jerseys

The Tour de France is not just about the overall victory. To give different riders from different disciplines a podium, there are several jerseys to compete for and to bet on! So we take a quick look at them:

Yellow Jersey

Jersey for classification leader. Whoever wears the yellow jersey after the last stage wins the Tour de France. The colour yellow was chosen because at the time it was the colour of the paper of the newspaper L’Auto, which organised the Tour in 1919.

Green Jersey

The jersey for the best sprinter. Points can also be earned for this jersey in mountain stages through so-called intermediate sprints.

White Jersey

Jersey for best ‘rookie’. This jersey is awarded to the highest ranked rider under the age of 25. 

Polka Dot Jersey

The jersey for the leader in the mountain classification. Points can be earned for this classification at every summit of a mountain. The tougher the mountain, the more points. The green jersey and polka dot jersey are most interesting for betting on Tour de France when you follow the tour daily.

Betting on Tour de France | Betting markets

The Tour de France is one big rollercoaster of possible betting markets. Every jersey is a betting market, every day’s victory is a betting market and every shift in the standings is a betting market. We highlight a few of them; betting markets for the die hard fans and Tour de France betting markets for the casual spectator.

Outright winner bet

Who will win the Tour de France? If you want to bet on Tour de France without following the stages closely on a daily basis, then an outright winner bet is a great option to enjoy for three weeks. With four or five serious contenders, the odds never disappoint.

Your time investment is for the Tour; which riders have teams that can win a round? Who has good preparation? Who is in shape? Does the course suit your intended winner?

Green jersey / polka dot jersey

Are you someone who is more involved in the course of the Tour and doesn’t want to wait three weeks for one bet? Then betting on the green and polka dot jersey is the way to go. In the first week, you bet on the green jersey and then move on to betting on the polka dot jersey.

To be successful in this betting market, you will also have to be prepared to invest in studying form, teams and preparation of riders. 

Day victories/classifications

Anyone who takes a three-week holiday to follow the Tour from day to day owes it to themselves to bet on day victories and daily wins in the other classifications. Use your knowledge of cycling to beat the odds. 21 stages, including 9 flat stages, 3 hill stages, 7 mountain stages and 2 time trials offer a whole range of bets you can sink your teeth into.

History Tour de France

The Tour de France may have had its legendary status for a while, but things have changed over time. The first Tour de France was held in 1903 and covered a course of 2428 km.

That’s about 1,000km less than today, but it must be said that this distance was covered in just six stages. That’s more than 400km per day on average. Not surprisingly, the average speed did not exceed 26km per hour in the early years.

With its growing popularity, it was decided that the tour should visit all of France. The number of stages and kilometres shot up. In 1926 was the longest tour at 5745km, where the winner spent 239 hours in the saddle.

The organisers also saw that this was too much, after which the stages of around 350 km were reduced to 250 and then to the average of 170 km as we know it today. So in 1927, the Tour as we know it today was born.

The mystique of the Tour

The Tour de France features stages that stay with everyone. Rides you won’t see anywhere else. Take the 65 km stage from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan that consisted of 38 km of climbing. Ridden in a Formula 1-like setup, where riders rode one after the other based on their place in the classification. Total chaos, but so beautiful. The climax was decided on the final climb when Nairo Quintana attacked and even Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas could not follow.

Betting on Tour de France | Doping and betting

The Tour de France is not only famous for its beautiful stages, scenery and suffering. This Tour (and sport in general) is also dominated by intrigue. Especially that of doping. This can be nasty for bets. Usually, these are voided and you get your deposit refunded.

The scandal may come to light after the payout. Always carefully read the terms and conditions at a bookmaker for such cases, especially in cycling.

For example, as recently as 1998, carer Willy Voet of the Festina team was arrested with a car full of epo. That year, only 96 of the 189 riders who started would finish in Paris. That year’s Tour was nicknamed ‘Le Tour Noir’ and Le Tour Dopage’. Despite the justice system’s crackdown, the sport was not rid of doping after that year.

In 2006, there was a new doping scandal. A list of 35 riders included big names like Ivan Basso (No 2 in 2005), Jan Ullrich (1997 winner) and Joseba Beloki. That year, Floyd Landis would win, but four days after the tour, he suddenly disappeared without a trace. Doping was discovered in him too and the title was taken away from him. 

The biggest scandal still on all our minds is, of course, that of Lance Armstrong. The seven-time(!) winner who lied to the world for years has been suspended for life. His victories have been struck off the books.

The blow this dealt to sport in general and the Tour in particular resonated for a long time however. Public trust had to be regained. While we knock it off, we dare cautiously say that the Tour de France is now no longer viewed with suspicion. It will probably be some time before all suspicion really disappears completely however.

(Fair) winners Tour de France 

Looking at other winners, one can fortunately conclude that they had no hint of corruption around them. Although it must be said that in the old days, much doping was not seen as such. It was not checked and riders did not feel they were doing anything wrong. Therefore, past achievements, even of the greatest heroes, should always be subject to this comment.

Englishman Christopher Froome won the Tour from 2015 to 2018, a similar trick was done by Spaniard Miguel Indurain from 1991 to 1995. In the 1970s, Belgian Eddy Merckx was the big man with four titles in a row, something Frenchman Jacques Anquetil also accomplished a decade before that. Any tour winner will tell you how hard it is to win one tour. That these men have won four each is an incredible achievement.