Tour De France Stage 18 betting predictions, tips, odds and free bets (July 23, 2015)

Thursday, 23 July 2015 09:15
Written by David Bet

There will be no chance to rest for the GC riders as Stage 18 is another tough mountain stage. The riders travel 186.5 kilometres from Gap to Saint Jean De Maurienne. This article contains the best Tour De France STAGE 18 betting preview including predictions and odds, betting tips on Stage Winner and Head to Head, exclusive bonuses and no deposit free bets!

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TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 18 BETTING PREVIEW

Once again there are real opportunities for riders to escape. The first half is a constant barrage of second and third-category climbs, followed by the Col du Glandon. The average gradient of Col du Glandon is deceptive as there is a short descent after 7km of climbing and another descent 5km from the summit. The rest of the climb is highly irregular with several steep kilometres averaging 9-10% in the lower sections before it gets easier near the top. Anyway, the most eagerly anticipated moment will be the ascent through Montvernier’s hairpins, just 10km from the finish at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. This short but steep ascent has 18 successive hairpins over 3 kilometers with an average gradient of 8%.

It’s the only Alpine stage without a summit finish, and it’s likely to offer two races – one for the escape and one for the GC riders.

The descent of the Glandon is very narrow, steep and technical. It’s Vincenzo Nibali territory but team Astana doesn't seem able to control the race, so even if the Italian champion attacks on the descent, it could not be enough to win the stage. Anyway, Alberto Contador no longer has anything to lose and we expect fireworks from the Spaniard as Tinkoff-Saxo will probably try to make it hard right from the early kilometers. This scenario will be favourable for Nibali too.

Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde are other strong candidates for this kind of course. However, Chris Froome proved that he is strong in all terrains and never gave an inch to his key rivals so far.

In any case, the Stage 18 winner will almost certainly be a top-notch climber with good descending skills as well. Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez is very likely to make the breakaway, especially with so many King of the Mountains points available. His compatriot Samuel Sánchez has been quietly riding an excellent Tour de France, currently sitting 13th, so he is no immediate threat and so the big teams won’t watch him.

Romain Bardet is too young for a three weeks race. Bob Jungels rode very strongly in stage 17 and had to slow down to wait for Bauke Mollema. No chances, in our opinion, for well-backed riders such as Gesink, Gallopin, Peraud and Boasson Hagen

Rigoberto Uran, Andrew Talansky and Peter Sagan will probably be a bit exhausted after Stage 17 while Ryder Hesjedal is expected to try again. Thibaut Pinot is improving his form day by day but he is a disgrace on descents and we rule him out. Pierre Rolland is clearly not as strong as he was in the Pyrenees while Thomas Voeckler and Cyril Gautier don't seem fast as past years.

Jan Bakelants, Wilco Kelderman, Jacob Fuglsang, Daniel Martin, Rafal Majka and Stephen Cummings are other possible breakaway candidates that deserve to be mentioned.