The Cycling Thread

[tyKiwanuka]

Source: https://www.uci.org/

Cycling was for a long time my favourite sport to watch and to bet on. I always adored the cyclists for their dedication, idealism and willingness to suffer. And cyclists are tough as nails - I always laugh at footballers lying on the pitch, screaming and doing Hollywood with minor injuries When there is some crash, the first thing these people do, is to look for their bike, because they want to keep going and not lose any time.


Source: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/569423946607544568/

Cycling is, to the surprise of a lot of people, a team sport in the end. Even the best rider is nothing without a team behind to provide support.

The season is underway again and there is a tight calendar:


Source: https://www.procyclingstats.com/races.php

The betting markets have changed a lot over the years and this is a very small market now, even for one of the biggest sport events worldwide every year, the Tour de France. Still there are some good bets to be found and I will post a pick here every now and then. The betting limits are rather small-ish, so this is nothing for highrollers, but you can work with a double digit yield, which compensates the lower stakes a bit.

Feel free to post your picks as well or discuss the races, good luck.

[tyKiwanuka]

Tour de France, Stage 2:

Bardet tb Uran @1.751 4/10

Odds are from Pinnacle, you can get around 1.70 at crypto bookies. Uran crashed yesterday and fell on his shoulder, that was recently injured already. This is a tough stage and if you are missing some %, you will be in trouble. Bardet has better form right now and as frenchman, he will be super motivated to get a good result anyway. Uran will probably be happy with just finishing with the main favourites.

[tyKiwanuka]

Bardet tb Uran @1.751 4/10

Was a bit closer than expected, since both didn't contest the sprint. For Uran this was expected, but Bardet not trying to get a good placement, was a surprise to me; maybe nothing left in the tank. Got a bit lucky here, +3.00.


Source: https://www.letour.fr/de/klassements

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Tomorrows stage is something for the pure sprinters, so probably a snoozefest until the last kms. Never liked to get too involved with those, so most likely no bet(s) for tomorrow. Tuesday will see the first mountain top finish of this years edition and there should be some good bets, lets see.

The popularity of cycling and cycling betting has boomed in the UK in recent years thanks to the success of the likes of Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish and Sir Bradley Wiggins. With cycling betting, there are two main types of cycling to focus on: tour racing, which is more endurance, and track cycling, which is more of a sprint.

You spam a lot buddy But since this was a bit on topic, I won't delete it. Next time no mercy though^^

[2double0]

What's your favorite site by the way?
I cannot find these type of bets on my choice of sportsbetting websites and want your choice to create an account there and maybe bet on your tips. Not too familiar with cycling games but yeah, their dedication is priceless and their speed is unmatchable by people like us who have become lazy enough that we need a bike to go to a nearby shop and buy some stuff.

[tyKiwanuka]

What's your favorite site by the way?

For cycling this would be Pinnacle. Bet365 is the benchmark, but they have poor odds. The rest just copies what Bet365 puts up, it's a small market, where you can't stake a lot, unless you place the same bet in various bookmakers or multiple times like f.e. what Pinnacle allows you to do. For crypto bookies, Betcoin/Playbetr/Sportsbet have H2H/Stage winner/Top3, Nitrogen pretty sure has something, maybe FJ (didn't check).

Not too familiar with cycling games but yeah, their dedication is priceless and their speed is unmatchable by people like us who have become lazy enough that we need a bike to go to a nearby shop and buy some stuff.

Well, they have pretty good equipment^^ But yes, it's insane what they are doing day in day out. I think the record for going downhill in Tour de France is 121km/h.....on these tiny tyres with basically no protection but a helmet, which won't help a lot, if you crash at that speed. I'd rather have a smooth drive on my shitty bike to the next store instead and leave the rest for the pros, while I watch on TV

[morvillz7z]

Cycling fan here, following closely the three grand tours for more than 20 years now. I remember the first tour that i watched back in '98, Pantani winning, he was absolutely amazing, believe it or not i haven't missed a single edition of Tour de France since then. I love everything about cycling, the fans, the history, the riders, and their passion, the doping scandals if you will...and so much more.

This years' race is a little bit different, we don't have a prologue, the first week is usually given to sprinters to take on each other. Now we have a few hilly/mountain stages for a start. Most of the stages seem shorter, only one over 200km and we only get one time-trial, note, it's not the typical tt, it finishes with 6km climb at 8.5%. That's great news for Bernal i guess, not so much for Roglic and Dumoulin. Some of the major climbs are missing also, no Mont Ventoux, Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez, i only glanced Grand Colombier being included, that would suck.

As for the teams and who i expect to win, it's really hard to say. Ineos (SKY) didn't dominate as they used to do but Bernal was solid and won last year. Their roster is pretty good even without Froome and Geraint Thomas. Jumbo–Visma (the killer wasps) have a lot of talent themselves, no Kruijswijk for them. It's gonna be a tight race between those two, but i trust Brailsford more, he is a genius, so i put my money on Bernal to win the Tour.

Stage 1 and 2, well, the start was crazy/hectic, i don't remember so many riders hitting the ground in one stage. I think a total 53, some multiple times. Hope Sivakov is well as he fell twice, Ineos will need him down the stretch. In places where it doesn't rain so much when it does roads get x10 more slippery. It was so bad Martin had to neutralize one of the descents which is kinda rare sight in cycling, especially in the first stage but given the circumstances it was understandable. Tomorrow's gonna be a national holiday in France, the French are in yellow, great win by Alaphilippe!

So yeah, nice thread @tyKiwanuka, my next posts gonna be shorter i promise!  

[swogerino]

I watch cycling occassionally on Tv and when I do I like it but I am not an avid fan of it.However this thread is good for the forum members as I am sure you will see that there are a lot of cycling fans here.Of course me and every one else is impressed by Marco Pantani which has survived different forms of cancers and is a living proof that cancer can be cured.

[tyKiwanuka]

my next posts gonna be shorter i promise!  

Nooooo, it's nice to have someone to talk to in here, so just keep em coming with as much text as you want

Cycling fan here, following closely the three grand tours for more than 20 years now. I remember the first tour that i watched back in '98, Pantani winning, he was absolutely amazing, believe it or not i haven't missed a single edition of Tour de France since then.

I started in '96 and got really seriously infected with the cycling virus in '97 when Ulle was the first german to win the TdF - and he remained the last one until today. The 3 GT's are surely the highlights for the majority, but my favourite race is Paris-Roubaix. Just a beauty to watch with all the chaos it creates. Will be end of October this year and I hope that it finally rains again after gazillions of dry editions in recent years.
But I love all races; the one-day-races, the one-week races, the GT's, the Worlds. And I like to bet on them all.

[jademaxsuy]

The popularity of cycling and cycling betting has boomed in the UK in recent years thanks to the success of the likes of Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish and Sir Bradley Wiggins. With cycling betting, there are two main types of cycling to focus on: tour racing, which is more endurance, and track cycling, which is more of a sprint.

I am not familiar with cycling events though here in our place especially on fiesta there are racing events. Yeah endurance and sprint is very common but I am also seeing extreme downhill race beating up with time and obstacles to pass. Pretty sure one of the best cycling events I have seen in my whole life.

Cycling is one of my favorite sports and since this is being open up here now I can probably follow and there plot schedule already that can be the reference but I need to search what TV network or channel or live play it could be seen.

[morvillz7z]

A few takeaways from today's Stage 4:

- no fireworks and early attacks, but it was to be expected, a short climb, only 7km with 6.7%, not enough for anything significant.
- no major changes in the standings either but Roglic has now 4 seconds on Pogacar and 10' on everyone else.
- Jumbo-Visma looked exceptionally strong, both van Aert and Sepp Kuss right there helping Roglic whereas everyone else was by themselves in the final few km.
- Dumoulin didn't look good, that's the impression that i got, maybe he didn't have the legs today, likely to only help Roglic in this year's race, i can't see him make the top 3, but maybe that's just me.
- Sagan will win the green jersey again, but not as dominant as we know him to be.

Stage 3 had one of the craziest finishes i've ever seen, Caleb Ewan catapults out of nowhere to win, he zig-zagged his way in the last 75m, man, Sam Bennett was like "what the hell just happened" in the end, he couldn't believe it. Nice win for Lotto Soudal, after losing Gilbert and Degenkolb in the first two stages, a well-needed win for the team. C.Ewan will win at least 2 more imo, he is crazy fast/explosive, probably the fastest man in the peloton right now.

A few images that i took from the final meters of the stage:



image source: eurosportplayer.com

[tyKiwanuka]

(...) Sam Bennett was like "what the hell just happened" (...)

Hehe, yes. But Bennett just went too early (not as dumb as Sagan though ) with all the headwind. And Ewan has very aerodynamic sprinting style anyway and dude is fast when he is on. But the sprinters field is pretty poor this year unfortunately. Normally you have 4-5 top sprinters in the Tour and some other good ones, but this year it's very thin.

- no fireworks and early attacks, but it was to be expected, a short climb, only 7km with 6.7%, not enough for anything significant.

Yep, the climb was also pretty steady, everyone still has fresh legs, so sprint from a bigger group was very likely.

- Sagan will win the green jersey again, but not as dominant as we know him to be.

He will just go in the groups again every day in the mountain stages and win it that way Maybe Trentin can challenge him a bit.

[target]

You have to be a fan and probably a cyclist yourself to be updated with whos' who. Just by reading the cyclist names mentioned I'm already making me outdated.
I googled some of them and it landed me to youtube video of the cyclist who celebrrated too early lol must be frustrating to have bet on them.

I wanna be part as I have been practicing riding my bike for months since the time of lockdown. Where do you bet for cycling events?

[pakhitheboss]

I used to watch tour de France until Lance Armstrong decided to blow up his cover. I had great respect for this guy and thought cycling was the only game left out of drugs until reality struck me.

Now I watch but not devoted to this game anymore. Thanks, @tyKiwanuka for creating this thread and the itinerary of 2020 tournament.

[babygun]

Thanks for the thread! I am a big cycling fan and place on a regular basis some bets.
Only bet, so far, I placed for the Tour De France is Alaphilippe to win the mountain jersey @5. For the yellow jersey Roglic is my topfavorite to win, he looks to be in prime condition and has a better team than Bernal.

[tyKiwanuka]

Small parlay for todays stage. The last climb is pretty easy, but the Col de la Lusette will give the riders some problems. Not sure, if it will be that easy to come back afterwards, if you are dropped there already.

Landa tb Porte (1.33)
Carapaz tb Kuss (1.56)
Parlay @2.07

Porte often finishes at the very back of his group; Landa isn't the most gifted sprinter there ever was, but at least he is always trying to finish in the first places of his group. Kuss will have to work a lot today and he is not looking at the GC anyway. Carapaz is only 0:41 down and would want to stay in contention. And for Ineos it's also important to have a backup plan, in case Bernal struggles.

[tyKiwanuka]

Landa tb Porte (1.33)
Carapaz tb Kuss (1.56)
Parlay @2.07

There wasn't a whole lot of value on Landa I guess, but he finished better than Porte, though both at the end of the group. Carapaz was easy.


For today:

Sagan Top3 @4.40 (Stake)
There is some wind expected in the final today, which could lead to echolons. Sagan is super strong in these situations, so he should be in the top group, where some sprinters might already have been dropped from. Even if not, Sagan can always finish Top3.

Bonifazio tb Viviani @2.28 (Pinnacle)
Viviani has some issue with his foot and with those expected winds, I don't see him staying in the front. If Bonifazio will be there in the end, is to be seen, but these are good odds against an not fully fit rider.

[babygun]

Landa tb Porte (1.33)
Carapaz tb Kuss (1.56)
Parlay @2.07

There wasn't a whole lot of value on Landa I guess, but he finished better than Porte, though both at the end of the group. Carapaz was easy.


For today:

Sagan Top3 @4.40 (Stake)
There is some wind expected in the final today, which could lead to echolons. Sagan is super strong in these situations, so he should be in the top group, where some sprinters might already have been dropped from. Even if not, Sagan can always finish Top3.

Bonifazio tb Viviani @2.28 (Pinnacle)
Viviani has some issue with his foot and with those expected winds, I don't see him staying in the front. If Bonifazio will be there in the end, is to be seen, but these are good odds against an not fully fit rider.

There is indeed value on Sagan to finish in the top 3, but I don't think this will be a peloton sprint. If it would be a sprint, I would have placed a bet on Van Aert to win, but he has already mentioned in several interviews that he will now focus fully on the team. So no bet for me today  .

[tyKiwanuka]

(...) but I don't think this will be a peloton sprint.

It's of course always possible, that the attackers will make it to finish, but for today I don't think so. Too many teams/sprinters still interested and the last 90kms are not really challenging (Kirsipuu already retired some years ago ). Quick Step will want to get that stage win for Bennett and they will surely be the main driving force, if it comes to echolons (they love doing that).

I think it will be reduced peloton sprint, if there is enough wind, maybe ~50 riders in first group, but lets see.

[morvillz7z]

A very interesting race today, i wasn't expecting anything to happen, i could see a relaxed ride with peloton sprint in the end given the profile of the stage and since tomorrow's stage 8 will be pretty tough on everybody, thought they would just coast to the finish line and preserve energy. But hey, Bora couldn't care less about the general standings and decided to do their own version of TTT  , getting the main group shredded to pieces from the start. Sagan in green, so mission accomplished, good job Bora!

There is some wind expected in the final today, which could lead to echolons.

Yup, the splits were a fact today, Pogacar, Porte, Landa, and a few others lost some valuable time.
What is van Aert taking though? lol, Second win in the last three stages, beating sprinters like its nothing, solid on in the climbs...damn.

Three climbs tomorrow, two from 1 category and one HC, serious stuff, though i'm afraid most riders will be tired as hell after today and we won't see many attacks, i hope i'm wrong though. Thomas De Gendt was testing waters today, i don't know if he has the legs this year but he is up to something, i could see him try to join one of the breakaway groups tomorrow and perhaps win.

[babygun]

A very interesting race today, i wasn't expecting anything to happen, i could see a relaxed ride with peloton sprint in the end given the profile of the stage and since tomorrow's stage 8 will be pretty tough on everybody, thought they would just coast to the finish line and preserve energy. But hey, Bora couldn't care less about the general standings and decided to do their own version of TTT  , getting the main group shredded to pieces from the start. Sagan in green, so mission accomplished, good job Bora!

There is some wind expected in the final today, which could lead to echolons.

Yup, the splits were a fact today, Pogacar, Porte, Landa, and a few others lost some valuable time.
What is van Aert taking though? lol, Second win in the last three stages, beating sprinters like its nothing, solid on in the climbs...damn.

Three climbs tomorrow, two from 1 category and one HC, serious stuff, though i'm afraid most riders will be tired as hell after today and we won't see many attacks, i hope i'm wrong though. Thomas De Gendt was testing waters today, i don't know if he has the legs this year but he is up to something, i could see him try to join one of the breakaway groups tomorrow and perhaps win.

What a race yesterday and a very nice move from Bora! Sagan in green and he will now probably keep it until Paris!
Too bad, I didn't take Van Aert to win  . I always thought that M. Van Der Poel was better than Van Aert, but given the recent victories of Van Aert, I am now thinking the inverse.

Hopefully we will see some a nice race today with some attaques of the favorites.
Placed one bet today: A. Yates tb Alaphilippe (1.79)