Point-Spreads.com reckons this year’s Tour de France will go right down to the wire. Savvy punters are looking at the inning time between 0:00 – 1:00 minutes at +200 odds from BetUS.com for that specific winning margin.
With titans of the sport like Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong now long since retired last year’s race saw a much closer and competitive affair. Last summer Floyd Landis (US) clocked an overall time of 89 hours 39 minutes 30 seconds to pip Oscar Pereiro (Sp) Caisse d'Epargne by 57 seconds.
Compare that to 2005 when Lance Armstrong (US) Discovery clocked a time of 86 hours 15 minutes two seconds to finish comfortably four minutes and 40 seconds ahead of second place Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC.
In 2004 Armstrong’s winning margin was six minutes and 19 seconds. But there isn't such a dominant character in cycling anymore and this year’s race is wide open and that suggests another tight encounter.
The first leg of the 2007 Tour de France will see the cream of the world's cyclists speeding from central London, via Medway, Maidstone and the Weald, towards the finish line in Canterbury. It will be the first time the race has taken place in central London.
Meanwhile, there may be positive tests among riders who are expected to figure in the Tour de France during the build-up to the event's start in London on July 7, the International Cycling Union's chief anti-doping officer said recently.
Anne Gripper said that out-of-competition tests have produced initial "non-negative" results and the B samples are being tested.
In a move calculated to raise the pressure on drug-takers in the sport, Gripper added that the ICU has been targeting a group of six or seven Tour riders it has identified thanks to abnormal racing results and peculiar blood test readings.
Some of the group have been nicknamed the "men in black" because they apparently train in kit without sponsors' logos to avoid identification.
BetUS.com has posted cycling betting odds on what the winning margin of the Tour de France winner will be?
0:00 – 1:00 min: +200
1:01 – 2:00 min: +175
2:01 – 3:00 min: +250
3:01 – 4:00 min: +400
4:01 or more: +250
