After a brutal 17th Stage, Stage 18 offers very little climbing and it should be a fascinating battle between the breakaway and the sprinters.
STAGE 17 WRAP
Felix Gall is riding in his first Tour de France, but he showed brilliant climbing legs to hold off Simon Yates to win Stage 17.
Gall found himself in the breakaway surrounded by teammates who worked hard to ensure that the break stayed clear and with the points he got on the final climb he also moved to 2nd in the King of the Mountains competition.
Bilbao finished 3rd ahead of Jonas Vingegaard who put the race to bed as a contest with his great rival, Pogacar finishing 5 minutes down on him.
It was a brutal day for those sprinters just trying to survive and the final man finished 44 minutes and 56 seconds behind the winner.
JERSEY UPDATE
The Yellow Jersey is over as a contest with Jonas Vingegaard leading by over 7 minutes and he is now 1/100 shot for the victory.
Philipsen has also very much wrapped up the Green Jersey and is trading at 1/50.
Jumbo-Visma has now shortened to 1/5 favourites for the team competition after another dominant display on Stage 17.
The only jersey which is still up for grabs is the King of the Mountains where leader, Ciccone is an 11/20 shot ahead of Vingegaard and Gall at 7/2.
Click here for betting on all of the Tour de France Classifications
STAGE 18 BETTING – Click here to bet
Jasper Philipsen 1/1
Dylan Groenewegen 11/2
Wout Van Aert 6/1
Mads Pedersen 10/1
Mathieu Van Der Poel 20/1
Magnus Cort Nielsen 22/1
25/1 and better the balance
THE ROUTE
Starting in Moûtiers the riders have to traverse 184.9 kilometres on Thursday with the finish in Bourg-en-Bresse. The terrain is a lot easier than we have seen in recent stages with 2 Cat 4 climbs along the way and a few rolling hills, but nothing that should put the sprinters into trouble.
VERDICT
This stage, were it at the beginning of the Tour, would be a nailed on on sprint finish, but for a number of teams that have lost their sprinters and a lot of tired legs in the Peloton this one could go either way.
Philipsen is even money for the victory and if it comes down to a sprint it is hard to look past him. I am going to back him with the insurance of the World Sports Betting 2nd place refund in mind, but should the break should stay away I wouldn’t be surprised to see his teammate Van Der Poel in it and I will also have an interest in him.
Get a refund on a 2nd place finish
Back any rider to win any stage of the 2023 Tour De France and if your selection comes 2nd, we will refund the stake in Free Bet vouchers!
Pre-Match events only. T’s & C’s apply. Refund/Payout limited to R2000.
Valid for bets taken before each stage from 1st – 23rd July
Simply email promotions@wsb.co.za with Subject ‘TDF Stage’
Suggested Bet: Philipsen win at 1/1
Suggested Bet: Van Der Poel win at 20/1
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
