Bookies Cannot Separate the Big Two in Tour de France 2023
An enthralling Tour de France has reached its first rest day. In a break from tradition, the 2023 Tour began with two hilly stages in the Basque Country. Adam Yates took the first stage ahead of his twin brother, Simon. He wore the yellow jersey until Jai Hindley inherited the famous maillot jaune on day five when he won the first mountain stage of the three-week contest.
Behind the Stage-5 winner, reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard dropped two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar on the last steep climb, 19 kilometres from home. Starting the day 11 seconds adrift of his rival, the Dane finished in second position overall and 53 seconds ahead of the 2020 and 2021 champion.
Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard (yellow jersey) have thrilled Tour de France fans during the first nine stages of the 2023 race. ©GettyImages
The cycling betting sites and punters reacted by plunging on Vingegaard. Inseparable in the betting markets with Pogacar – at 11/10 apiece – ahead of the race, Vingegaard’s odds were slashed to 1/3.
It appeared Pogacar had not fully recovered from the surgery he underwent to treat the scaphoid fracture injury he sustained in April’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He could now be backed at 7/2 ahead of day six. Race leader Jai Hindley was into 6/1.
Pogacar From off the Floor
The Tour looked over – but then came Stage-6, the second day in the Pyrenees. Ahead of the action, in interviews, Pogacar seemed deflated and had seemingly resigned himself to the fact Vingegaard was in better overall shape. Au contraire.
Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team smelled blood. They bossed the peloton from the early stages and applied pressure on the penultimate climb – the legendary Col du Tourmalet – when dropping the yellow-clad Jai Hindley.
Seeking to exploit Pogacar’s apparent shortcomings, Vingegaard attacked close to the summit of the climb, but his rival followed. Wout van Aert was then on hand to lead Vingegaard into the final 4.6 kilometres of the last climb, Cauterets-Cambasque, and the line.
Silencing critics and stunning experts, this time it was Pogacar who produced a decisive kick and pulled away from his rival close to home. The Slovakian won the stage by 24 seconds. With time bonuses included, he narrowed his deficit to Vingegaard in the general classification to just 25 seconds.
🗣️”We wanted to try to test him [Pogačar] again today and see how he felt and I suppose he felt better than yesterday” – 🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard @maillotjauneLCL #TDF2023 @JumboVismaRoad pic.twitter.com/8z2eX2k1dx
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2023
Cavendish’s Broken Hopes, Dreams and Bones
Tour de France Bookmakers immediately made fresh calculations. The updated odds saw Pogacar reinstated as the joint favourite. Stages 7 and 8, classified as flat and hilly, predictably produced no change to the positions, margins, or prices of the big two in the general classification.
The biggest news story from these days was the tragedy that beset Mark Cavendish. The Brit – hoping to break Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour de France stage victories before his retirement at the end of the season – fell and broke his collarbone. ‘King Cav’ had been heavily backed for Sports Personality of the Year in the days before the Tour began.
It Went Pop on the Corkscrew Volcano
Stage-9 ended with a corkscrew ride up and around the extinct volcano of Puy de Dôme. The eventual stage winners were part of a breakaway that was allowed an enormous advantage from flag fall. Their entertaining finish did not bother the general classification, and all eyes were quickly trained back on Vingegaard and Pogacar, who were inseparable for 181.1 kilometres of the stage.
Jonas Vingegaard watches Tadej Pogacar pull ahead during the final kilometre of the Stage-9 ascent of Puy de Dôme. ©GettyImages
As the pair passed 1.4 kilometres from the line – approaching the brutal 14-degree gradient to the summit – Pogacar, who had appeared to be struggling, struck for home. In a slow-motion finish, Vingegaard failed to catch his rival and saw another eight seconds shaved off his overall advantage.
Tour de France betting sites reacted by making Pogacar a marginal favourite at 5/6. Vingegaard’s odds are only slightly bigger. He is now 11/10. A big mover – in the general classification and the betting – is Britain’s Tom Pidcock.
A fine Stage-9 effort has moved Pidcock into seventh position overall. Two minutes and 46 seconds adrift of third-placed Jai Hindley, the 23-year-old could prosper in week two, and, at 100/1, he may repay those who support him in the place only or each-way betting markets.
Where Will the Tour Go Next?
The 2023 Tour de France began on Saturday, 1 July in Bilbao. It will run until 23 July, with the 21st and final stage finishing in Paris. Following Monday’s rest day, the action resumes with a hilly Stage-10.
Teams will return to the mountains next Friday and stay at high altitude for three consecutive days ahead of the second and final rest day on Monday, 17 July. The only time trial of 2023 is scheduled for Tuesday, 18 July.
Le Tour 2023 visits all five of France’s mountain massifs: In order they are the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Jura, the Alps, and, finally, the Vosges. On Wednesday, 19 July the stage will conclude in Courchevel. The winter sports complex of Le Markstein is the Tour’s final mountainous stop. It rolls up that landmark on the penultimate day of the race.
