Who are the bookies's favourites for the Tour de France 2021?
Who the bookies tipping to take the yellow jersey in Paris
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The Tour de France is not far away now and the big race has attracted some of the world's best riders yet again - but who have the bookies picked out as their favourite?
As the Tour gets going on June 26 in Brest, Brittany, we'll see the battle of the Slovenian stars once again with defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) going up against Primoż Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
But, will it just be a two-horse race for the title? Well, there are multiple riders who will be coming to try and halt the Slovenian charge.
Article continues belowIneos Grenadiers will likely be keen to put a spanner in the works as they bring three potential team leaders to the race with Critérium du Dauphiné winner Richie Porte, 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and 2019 Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapaz all lining up for the British super-team.
>>> Tour de France 2021 route: Details of all the stages in the 108th edition
Along with that, there are a huge group of extremely talented climbers, mostly from Colombia including Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Miguel Ángel López (Movistar), Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo) not to mention a plethora of others.
It will be the first time we've seen Roglič race since his 13th place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April. The runner up at last year's edition of the Tour decided to opt for an extended altitude camp with a few of his team-mates, including Wout van Aert. Roglič's odds come in at 45/17.
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The bookies' favourite, Pogačar, on the other hand, has returned to racing after a similar break to Roglič, in his home race of the Tour of Slovenia where he has already started to dominate the racing there. His odds are at 13/8.
The Ineos trio has taken a more traditional path towards the Tour, building their form in week-long races such as Tirreno-Adriatico before heading to the main build-up races of Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse.
Porte, whose odds are at 33/1, took the Dauphiné and looked very solid in the climbs and the time trial with Thomas managing third place overall. Porte has said he will be returning the favour for Thomas at the Tour but time will tell if that's true. The 2018 winner, Thomas's odds have him at third favourite with 6/1.
Carapaz is also looking in very good form after a strong Ardennes Classics campaign, he came into the Tour de Suisse, which is still ongoing, as the favourite. He did not disappoint on the first mountain stage, putting in a big attack to catch up with the leader on the road, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech), before out-sprinting him to the line to take the stage and the overall lead. The Ecuadorian sits above Porte in the favourites list at 18/1.
>>> Tour de France 2021 start list: Teams for the 108th edition
Other potential favourites are Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) at 33/1, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) at 50/1, Miguel Ángel López at 50/1, Enric Mas (Movistar) at 66/1, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) at 80/1, Nairo Quintana at 100/1.
Some riders have shortened their odds considerably due to recent performances, one such rider is Ukrainian rider Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious) who won two stages back-to-back at the Dauphiné as well as the mountains jersey. This has shortened his odds to 50/1 for the overall title.
Riders to look out for at longer odds are Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) at 100/1, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech) at 175/1, Esteban Chaves (BikeExchange) at 200/1, Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) at 275/1 and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) at 500/1.
Tour de France 2021 odds (Winner - Oddschecker)
Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 13/8
Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 45/17
Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 6/1
Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, at 18/1
Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 33/1
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 33/1
Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grendaiders, at 50/1
Miguel Ángel López (Col) Movistar Team, at 50/1
Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious, at 50/1
Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar Team, at 66/1
All odds correct at time of publication
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.