Tour de France 2009 Betting Preview

Tour de France 2009
Betting Preview

Features:
To Win Outright Market
Stage 1 - Time Trial Pick


I was waiting for it since the last rider finished last year in Paris. I could smell it during the Giro and really felt it so close when watching Contador and Valverde climbing the Mont Ventoux monster at Dauphiné Libéré. Now it is here - one of the most entertaining sports event in the world - Tour de France 2009 - starts tomorrow on its way from Monaco to Paris. Be sure you will find all the previews, my betting picks on almost every stage of the Tour and few comments more on riders and teams featured at the blog.
If you want the numbers -running from Saturday July 4^th to Sunday July 26^th 2009, the 96^th Tour de France contains 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometres.
Get on the bike!

Pick on the Winner
As you probably know better than me cycling is one of the hardest sports to bet on - odds are too crazy to be analyzed, too many changing factors, shaking riders form, team's strategies and collaborations. However that also means you can earn massive awards if you manage to put your finger on the winning horse before they get on the course. Someone can call this a pure lottery, to place any bet before stage 7 of this year tour but I will take the risk for my self and hope for good days on the road.

Alberto Contador is the magic name that comes from every related article as Tour de France 2009 most likely winner - and bookies are part of this choral voice offering just 1.95 (as bet365 does) for Contador to repeat his 2007 success in France. And I will take it today considering the fact that it can be 1.062 tomorrow after a time trial pretty suitable for Alberto's style. What makes me believe Contador have all the stars on his side (literally too) is mainly his performance I saw in Dauphiné Libéré - he was climbing monster hills as on excursion having fun with holding every attack and helping his Spanish mates! It was also true he was working on his bike standing not sitting but it was hard to find a slithly sign of tiredness on his face. There are even few more important factors to consider: he will be helped by a superbly strong team in the team time-trial in stage four. With Armstrong and Levi on his side Contador can break this tour early on. If...manage to stay a team leader. Yes, this is my only doubt here and will make me have a back up plan as I am sure Lance Armstrong will shoot few bullets on the jellow jersey also. That makes Astana' leadership a cloudy issue and can bring troubles for the team management. It is absolutely not acceptable to have so many Tour de France titles, to be a legend, to be 37 of age and to be calm and satisfied with carring the water bottles to the whole team! 4.00 is a worthy option for Lance - even you take it just to keep the good memories alive.

Ok, but who else can make it and bring me a solid reward for risking my money not on Contador? I will skip Sastre (he will be brilliant on the climbs but will loose too much in the trials), Menchov (to repeat his Giro success, no way), always second Cadel (too weak in the mountains and too defensive minded), Andy Schleck is another bookies favorite with 7.00 but..noo, too young gun to hold the preasure (as last year, his ambitions died in just one bad stage), but his brother Frank? 51.00 on him sounds like a music to my tipster ear and I will take it as a back up plan. It is true we saw a horrible fall in the Amstel Gold Race for Frank Schleck but he was back on the bike so quickly and even managed to win his home race, the Tour of Luxembourg, in June. Last year he was strong on the mountains and his brother can help him a lot if decides to support him during the whole race. Of course, the other scenario is also available as Andy can be very competitive for podium finish too - Pyrenees will decide everything inside that family!Stage 1 - Individual Time Trial Pick - WON

What we have here are 15.5 km starting from Monaco with the same city hosting the finish. Considering the profile of the route we can easily decide it was made for Contador but I strongly recommend to consider also a win for the Olympic champion Cancellara . Fabian is on hist best in such races and is probably the best from all the riders here when it comes to individual time trials. He won Tour de Suisse time trial exit just few days ago. I suppose a stage win here for Fabian is aim number one in Team Saxo Bank strategy and I will give them credit to take it.

Bet365 offers 1.57 for Cancellara and massive 7.00 for Contador to win this Stage 1 of 2009 Tour de France.