Tour De France 2011

[Johnny Karp]

I'm quite happy today since the Tour De France is starting, that's an event I've never missed during the last 15 years! This year's race looks as exciting as ever, at least on paper, with last year's winner Alberto Contador looking to defend his title against the likes of Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins or Ivan Basso. Here are the odds from Intertops (US OK):

                        Win Odds    Place Odds
Alberto Contador    -167    -833
Andy Schleck           +210    -238
Cadel Evans         +2000    +400
Ivan Basso         +2800    +560
Bradley Wiggins    +3300    +660
Robert Gesink         +3300    +660
Samuel Sanchez    +3300    +660
Frank Schleck         +4000    +800
Jürgen Van Den Broeck +5000    +1000
Andreas Klöden    +6600    +1320
Levi Leipheimer    +6600    +1320
Chris Horner            +8000    +1600
Janiz Brajkovic    +8000    +1600
Alexandre Vinokourov +10000    +2000
Christian Vandevelde +10000    +2000
Damiano Cunego    +10000    +2000
Ryder Hesjedal    +10000    +2000
Roman Kreuziger    +15000    +3000
Tony Martin            +15000    +3000

Place Odds: This allows you to choose the competitor/participant/team that you think will finish in the top three (1st, 2nd, 3rd) of the specified tournament/event/competition/race. Place odds are calculated as 1/5 of the outright odds to win the tournament/event/competition/race.

[Johnny Karp]

Tour De France Stage 1: Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes, 191.5 km



Today's stage is flat for the most part but it features a small climb at the very end so the sprinters might not be the ones who battle it out for crossing the line first today. The stage seems more suitable for riders like Gilbert or Cunego but the battle will surely be quite heated as every team would like to get a victory on the first day of this year's tour. Here are the odds for stage one from Intertops:

                                   Win Odds    Place Odds
Philippe Gilbert           +140    -357
Thor Hushovd                   +550    +110
Matthew Goss                  +1400    +280
Alessandro Petacchi    +1600    +320
Alexandre Vinokourov    +2000    +400
Edvald Boasson Hagen    +2000    +400
Joaquin Rojas                    +2000    +400
Thomas Voeckler            +2000    +400
Damiano Cunego            +2500    +500
Francisco Ventoso            +2500    +500
Mark Cavendish            +2800    +560
Alexandr Kolobnev            +4000    +800
Ben Swift                            +4000    +800
Cadel Evans                    +4000    +800
Fabian Cancellara            +4000    +800
Gerald Ciolek                    +4000    +800
Sylvain Chavanel           +4000    +800
Tom Boonen                   +4000    +800
Andre Greipel                 +5000    +1000
Borut Bozic                 +5000    +1000
Pierre Rolland                  +5000    +1000
Samuel Dumoulin           +5000    +1000
Samuel Sanchez          +5000    +1000
Tyler Farrar                 +5000    +1000
Grega Bole                 +6600    +1320
Marco Marcato         +6600    +1320
Romain Feillu                 +6600    +1320
Simon Gerrans          +6600    +1320

Place Odds: This allows you to choose the competitor/participant/team that you think will finish in the top three (1st, 2nd, 3rd) of the specified tournament/event/competition/race. Place odds are calculated as 1/5 of the outright odds to win the tournament/event/competition/race.

Good luck!

[Johnny Karp]

The big favorite for yesterday's stage won it comfortably, Philippe Gilbert left everybody behind as he sprinted towards the finishing line. But there was another major event yesterday, a mass fall in the pack with nine km left that penalized a few big names including Alberto Contador who is now around 80 seconds behind the likes of Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso or Cadel Evans in the general classification.

The rankings will surely suffer some modifications today because we'll have a special stage: the team time-trial!



Here are the odds for today's stage from Intertops:

Team Garmin Cervelo    +175    
HTC Highroad    +200    
Radioshack    +275    
Sky    +700    
Team Leopard Trek    +700    
Rabobank    +2500    
Omega Pharma Lotto    +2800    
BMC    +5000    
Liquigas Cannondale    +5000    
Katusha    +6600    
Saxo Bank Sungard    +6600    
Astana    +10000    
Quick Step    +10000    
Movistar    +15000    +3000
AG2R La Mondiale    +20000    
Lampre ISD    +20000    
Vacansoleil DCM    +20000    
Europcar    +25000    +5000
Euskaltel Euskadi    +30000    
FDJ    +30000    +6000
Cofidis    +35000    
Saur Sojasun    +35000

Good luck!

[Johnny Karp]

As expected, Team Garmin have won the time trial with BMC coming in second place and Sky in third spot. The win is quite important as Thor Hushovd, Garmin's experienced Norwegian rider, is the new leader of the overall classification. Hushovd will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow and he will probably hold on to it for at least a couple of days.

[Johnny Karp]

Stage 3 will be one for the sprinters, that's quite obvious. It will start at Olonne-sur-Mer while the finishing line is at Redon for a total length of 198 km.

http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2011/300/PROFIL.gif

There are just a few small hills to go past but the last kilometers are totally flat so we will most certainly see a mass sprint. Here are the odds for today's stage from Intertops:

Mark Cavendish    -154
Tyler Farrar    +550
Alessandro Petacchi    +1000
Andre Greipel    +1200
Thor Hushovd    +1600
Denis Galimzyanov    +2500
Ben Swift    +3300
Edvald Boasson Hagen    +4000
Tom Boonen    +4000
Jose Joaquim Rojas    +5000
Matthew Goss    +5000
Philippe Gilbert    +5000
Borut Bozic    +6600
Fabian Cancellara    +6600
Francisco Ventoso    +6600
Romain Feillu    +6600
Sylvain Chavanel    +8000

British sprinter Mark Cavendish is obviously the big favorite for today but you can never know what will happen during a mass sprint, there will be a lot of tension there today and we might be see a few riders hitting the deck again because of that.

[Johnny Karp]

The favourite didn't win today, Mark Cavendish was not anywhere near the first place but I'm happy to report that US sprinter Tyler Farrar clinched a special victory! It's special for two reasons: first, an American rider winning a stage on the 4th of July is always a nice moment and secondly Tyler dedicated the success to his best friend Wouter Weylandt, the young man who died during the Tour Of Italy. In fact, Farrar pulled out of the Tour Of Italy immediately after his best friend's death because he was devastated... Now he had the chance to dedicate a victory to his pal and he made a W with his hands while crossing the finishing line today. I hope to find a photo of that special moment and post it here later.

[Johnny Karp]

Here is the W, these are the kinds of emotions that cycling has to offer:

[Johnny Karp]

Today's stage will be a bit shorter, only 172.5 km, but it will not end in a mass sprint because there will be a third category climb right at the finishing line. The riders will start in the city of Lorient and will go through a 4th category climb in the middle of the stage before reaching the Mur-de-Bretagne which means "The Wall of Britany". Why do they call it that way? It's fairly obvious: it's short but steep, a 2.0 km climb with an average slope of 6.9 %!



The favorite is Philippe Gilbert again, the Belgian that has already won the opening stage of this year's Tour De France but the battle will be fierce today. Here are the odds from William Hill:

Stage 4 - Winner
4/7  Philippe Gilbert
8/1  Cadel Evans
11/1 Alberto Contador
20/1 Damiano Cunego
25/1 Alexandre Vinokourov
28/1Samuel Sanchez
28/1Thomas Voeckler
28/1Jose Joaquin Rojas
33/1Robert Gesink
33/1Andy Schleck
40/1Jurgen Van Den Broeck
40/1Frank Schleck
40/1Luis Leon Sanchez
50/1Alexandre Kolobnev
50/1Christopher Horner
50/1Thor Hushovd
50/1Fabian Cancellara
50/1Edvald Boasson Hagen
50/1Ryder Hesjedal
50/1Sylvain Chavanel
50/1Rigoberto Uran
50/1Francisco Ventoso
50/1Matt Goss
50/1Peter Velits

Good luck!

[Johnny Karp]

Philippe Gilbert missed the chance to win a stage on his birthday, he was beaten on the final climb as Alberto Contador himself launched an attack followed by Australian rider Cadel Evans who eventually went on to cross the line a few centimeters ahead of Contador. Thor Hushovd remains in command of the overall classification but his advantage over second placed Evans is incredibly slim: just one second!

[blueday]

That is a very slim advantage.

I know you are really interested in cycling events and this is THE event of the year.....but I want to know if you will have a little flutter on this race and who you will be betting on, assuming you do have a flutter.

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[Johnny Karp]

I don't know if I'll be betting on this, I guess I'll probably gamble on one of the stages. I think that Alberto Contador is the strongest and that he will make that count once we get to the tough mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees but if the other strong riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans, Brajkovic and so on will forge some sort of an alliance to put Contador in difficulty then they might have a chance. It's too early to say though, it's only the first of the three weeks.

[blueday]

I don't know if I'll be betting on this, I guess I'll probably gamble on one of the stages. I think that Alberto Contador is the strongest and that he will make that count once we get to the tough mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees but if the other strong riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans, Brajkovic and so on will forge some sort of an alliance to put Contador in difficulty then they might have a chance. It's too early to say though, it's only the first of the three weeks.

I guess it is a bit early yet, as you rightly say.  Will be interesting to see the betting change over this time.

Thanks Johnny.

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[Johnny Karp]

Today's stage will be beautiful for the viewers but it might not be very enjoyable for the riders. It will start at Carhaix and it will take the riders through 164.5 km before arriving at Cap Frehel, one of the most beautiful places in France. Cap Fréhel, with its 400 hectares of wilderness, is home to one of the most beautiful coastal landscapes in France. A heritage site, it is also the largest area of coastal moorland in Brittany.

The profile of the stage is fairly flat but the riders might encounter some wind problems because almost half of the route will be on the shores of the Atlantic and wind tends to blow quite heavily there.



The stage will probably end in a mass sprint so the fast men are the favorites again, here are the odds from Intertops:

Mark Cavendish (THR)    -120    
Tyler Farrar (GRM)    +333    
Jose Joaquin Rojas (MOV)    +1200    
Alessandro Petacchi (LAM)    +1400    
Andre Greipel (OLO)    +1800    
Denis Galimzyanov (KAT)    +2000    
Romain Feillu (VCD)    +2000    
Ben Swift (SKY)    +2500    
Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY)    +2500    
Thor Hushovd (GRM)    +2500    
Tom Boonen (QST)    +3300    
Fabian Cancellara (LEO)    +4000    
Matthew Goss (THR)    +4000    
Philippe Gilbert (OLO)    +4000    
Mark Renshaw (THR)    +5000    
Sebastien Hinault (ALM)    +5000    
Alexandre Vinokourov (AST)    +6600    
Borut Bozic (VCD)    +6600    
Geraint Thomas (SKY)    +6600    
Samuel Dumoulin (COF)    +6600    
Sylvain Chavanel (QST)    +6600    
Thomas Voeckler (EUC)    +6600    
Francisco Ventoso (MOV)    +8000    
Cadel Evans (BMC)    +10000    
Gerald Ciolek (QST)    +10000    
Gert Steegmans (QST)    +10000    
Jurgen Roelandts (OLO)    +10000    
Sebastien Turgot (EUC)    +10000    
William Bonnet (FDJ)    +10000    
Anthony Roux (FDJ)    +15000    
Fabio Sabatini (LIQ)    +15000    
Jeremie Galland (SAU)    +15000    
Tomas Vaitkus (AST)    +15000

It looks like we're going to have another duel between Cavendish and Farrar today, I think that Cavendish will not miss his chance this time. Good luck!

[Johnny Karp]

And I was right, Mark Cavendish pulled off an amazing sprint today and managed to beat Philippe Gilbert on the finishing line. The fast man from the Isle of Man recorded his first victory in this year's Tour De France and he will surely do his best to add at least another stage to his tally before we reach Paris.

Unfortunately there were many crashes inside the peloton today and several favorites hit the deck: first Bradley Wiggins, then Janez Brajkovic and Robert Gesink and last but not least Alberto Contador himself. Luckily most of the falls didn't have severe consequences but that wasn't the case for poor Brajkovic, take a look:



Unfortunately Brajkovic was unable to continue the race due to the serious blow to the head, he left the race in an ambulance. I was hoping that he would have a great Tour this year so I'm quite sad that he had to leave the race like that. However, he is just 27 years old so we will probably see him again in France next year.

The overall classification remains unchanged, Thor Hushovd holds on to the yellow jersey with Cadel Evans just one second behind him.

[blueday]

What a bummer for him and that looks a really nasty cut too.

Still a really tight race then Johnny.  I guess it adds to the excitement.

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