Tour De France Stage 14 predictions, tips, best odds and free bets (July 18, 2015)

Saturday, 18 July 2015 10:26
Written by David Bet

Tour De France stage 13 is a 198.5 km long stage from Muret to Rodez and it is one of the most unpredictable stages as it is tailored for both fast climbers and breakaway riders! This article contains the best Tour De France STAGE 14 preview including free predictions, odds, betting tips on Stage Winner and Head to Head, betting promotions and no deposit free bets!

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TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 14 BETTING PREVIEW

From the start, the riders travel in a sourtheasterly direction in the lumpy terrain around Rodez and the first 44km are generally slightly uphill. The next 78.5km are flat but in the last 40km of the stage, there are three climbs. First comes the Cat. 2 Côte de Sauveterre (9km at 6%), then the Cat. 4 Côte de Chabrits, and finally the short but very steep Cat. 2 Côte de la Croix Neuve (3km at 10.1%). From the top of the climb it’s about 1.5km of flat to the finish.

As a transitional stage, it will not produce any differences between the overall contenders but the finish in Mende always makes for a tough battle.

Joaquim Rodriguez won this stage in 2010 and is one of the two stage favourites along with his compatriot Alejandro Valverde. The former has already won two stages so far and will not be marked by the Yellow Jersey in case of breakaway. Alejandro Valverde need his team to control the attackers if he want to win the stage, and this could be too effortful for Movistar.

And if the GC contenders arrive at the bottom of the final ascent with no breakaways ahead of them, Chris Froome is the favourite to reach the summit before of all other riders. Anyway, the Brit could be reached before the finish line in the 1.5km of flat road.

In our opinion, this stage is perfect for Tony Gallopin as he has been riding surprisingly well and also has the sprint skills to challenge Valverde.

Alexis Vuillermoz won the stage on Mur de Bretagne on a shorter climb but with a similar gradient while Adam Yates has been riding extremely well and finished seventh in the first mountain stage and was in the top 10 on the Mur-de-Bretagne.

Geraint Thomas, Robert Gesink, Rafal Majka, Jan Bakelants and Greg Van Avermaet (who is climbing better than ever) are rider to watch closely.

Vincenzo Nibali is showing signs of progress and could try to escape on the final ascent as he is relatively far from the yellow jersey in the GC.

Dan Martin is in brilliant form but the finale is probably a bit hard for him against the top GC favorites but he could have a shot from the break, as well as his team-mate Ryder Hesjedal.

Long shots to not rule out are Steven Kruijswijk, Bob Jungels, Michael Rogers, Julian Arredondo, Julien Simon and Thibaut Pinot.

No chances, in our opinion, for well-backed riders as Contador, Degenkolb, Mollema, Uran, Kwiatkowski, Van Garderen, Talansky and Sagan.