He may be over 90 seconds behind Chris Froome after two stages of the Tour de France, but the bookmakers are not willing to write Nairo Quintana off just yet.
The Colombian was held up by a crash in the peloton on the hectic stage two, which saw him stuck in the second group on the road, over a minute behind the group containing Froome and Alberto Contador.
>>> “I’ll give everything for Nairo Quintana,” says Alex Dowsett
But the bookies are still favouring Quintana over Contador, despite the Spaniard sitting only 12 seconds behind Team Sky's leader, with odds of 13/5 (Bet 365) available on the Movistar rider.
Contador, meanwhile, is available at 7/2 at a number of online outlets - not much behind Quintana, but the punters are seemingly voting with their feet and still favouring the Colombian.
Froome remains the bookies' favourite to win the three-week race. With 19 stages left to go, Froome can be backed at 6/4 pretty much across the board.
With so many more treacherous stages left to come in the first week, these odds are still likely to change a lot, with at least one of the favourites likely to lose more time in the following stages.
Odds are taken from oddschecker.com and are correct at the time of publishing.
Tour de France stage two highlights
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Stefan Bissegger takes breakaway success on stage four of Tour de Suisse 2021 as Van der Poel keeps yellow
The break looked to be coming back before the peloton completely sat up on the final climb
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
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Miguel Ángel López sets fastest time on Mont Ventoux since 2004
A look at the fastest climbers on the iconic mountain after the one-day race
By Alex Ballinger •
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Tour de France 2021 route: Nairo Quintana wary of time trials but relishing double Mont Ventoux ascent
Nairo Quintana has responded to the Tour de France 2021 route, saying he is excited about the two ascents of Mont Ventoux.
By Alex Ballinger •
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Nairo Quintana responds to Tour de France doping investigation
Nairo Quintana has responded after French authorities launched a doping investigation into him and Arkéa-Samsic at the Tour de France.
By Alex Ballinger •
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Nairo Quintana’s hotel room was searched by police during final week of Tour de France, according to reports
Nairo Quintana’s hotel room was searched by police during the final week of the Tour de France, according to French media.
By Alex Ballinger •
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Tour de France 2020: Nairo Quintana falls out of top-10 on stage 17 after being dropped on first climb
Nairo Quintana looks to be out of the top-10 at the Tour de France 2020, after being dropped on the first climb of stage 17.
By Alex Ballinger •
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Tour de France 2020: Video shows Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet caught in crash as Bauke Mollema abandons
Dutchman Mollema was just outside the top-10 at the start of the day but has been forced to give up the race
By Alex Ballinger •
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Nairo Quintana 'not happy with fifth place' as he strives for yellow at 2020 Tour de France
The Tour de France is the only Grand Tour missing from the Colombian's palmarès
By Jonny Long •
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‘If people saw the speeds we’re climbing, they wouldn’t complain about the lack of attacks,’ says Enric Mas
We’re now a week into the Tour de France 2020 and the general classification remains perfectly poised.
By Alex Ballinger •
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Watch Nairo Quintana’s rapid recovery after crash in awful weather during Tour de France 2020 stage one
The first stage of the 2020 Tour de France has been a hectic day of racing as countless crashes hindered the peloton in awful weather.
By Alex Ballinger •
