The most famous cycling race is finally upon us with the 110th edition of the Tour De France! Don’t even think about dropping bets on who wins the Tour De France until you read this article all the way through. We’re previewing the three-week event ahead and then offering our most money picks so stick with us til the end!
- What: 2023 Tour de France
- Where: France and Spain
- When: July 1 - July 23
2023 Tour De France Preview
We begin our preview of the Tour De France with the betting odds to win. Top-used betting sites for sports have lines available for every rider in the field (there are 176 in all among 22 teams). But as it stands, the following riders are most favored to win the prestigious race:
| Rider |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Vingegaard | +105 | +105 | +105 |
| Tadej Pogacar | +110 | +110 | +110 |
| Jai Hindley | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Enric Mas Nicolau | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Richard Carapaz | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Ben O'Connor | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| David Gaudu | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
As you can see with the betting odds, all eyes are practically on Vingegaard and Pogacar — and for good reason. Vingegaard is the reigning, defending champion of this race, while Pogacar is a two-time winner in the past. For what it’s worth though, Pogacar won this year’s Paris-Nice event, a proverbial tune-up for the bigger Tour De France.
As for the 21-stage race, it will stretch 2,115 miles. The race begins in Bilbao, Spain, and finishes 22 days later in Paris per usual. There’s a meager two days of rest during the whole competition. This is a hilly race that favors mountainous riders, not speedsters. It’s for this reason that world-class competitors such as van Aert and van der Poel are not big favorites to win outright (though they could easily take some stages).
The course changes every year — not completely, but there is some variance. This time around, new climbs include Côte de Vivero (Basque Country), the Col de la Croix Rosier (Massif Central), and the Col du Feu (Alps). The 2023 route is extra mountainous if you can believe that. It features four summit finishes and only one time trial. The 6,939-foot Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees is the iconic one to watch out for this year. Additionally, there are eight flat stages and four hilly ones.
The Tour De France is, without question, one of the most difficult sporting events in the world. The grueling nature of the competition — average rides of 5-6 hours per day at usual speeds of 26 miles per hour — means not everyone will finish. Injuries and illnesses will wipe out competitors long before the final dash in Paris. Because of that, it’s best to make multiple multiple Tour De France bets, which leads us to our next picks.
Best Bets To Win 2023 Tour De France
We’re breaking up our 2023 Tour de France betting picks into two categories — the favorite and the darkhorse. We encourage putting money on both, but you can stick to one. Say you’re more of a “safe” bettor, then stick with our favorite choice. But anyone that’s more “risk on” can ride it out with the darkhorse. Here are our picks:
Favorite Pick
You almost have to pick between Vingegaard and Pogacar. Their odds are too close to bet both ways so it’s really one or the other. It wasn’t easy, but if we had to pick one of the two, we favor Vingegaard ever so slightly.
What Vingegaard has going for him that Pogacar doesn’t is momentum. He’s only a few weeks removed from winning the Criterium du Dauphine in June. Pogacar, on the other hand, has been slowed by a wrist injury for most of 2023. He just returned after a two-month sideline, which worries us in such a demanding event. For this reason, we’re going with Vingegaard instead.
Darkhorse Pick
You might want to familiarize yourself with David Gaudu. The French rider “quietly” finished fourth a year ago, and despite the respectable performance, has pretty middling betting odds. Remember that Paris-Nice event we mentioned earlier? Well, Gadu was second, ahead of Vingegaard. If something were to happen to the “top two”, Gaudu has a real chance to steal this one and become the first Frenchman to win the race since 1985. He’ll certainly have the partisan crowd support.
How To Watch 2023 Tour De France?
Buckle up because following the Tour de France on TV is a marathon in itself. Because of the time differences between the United States and France, TV start times are early in the morning. Coverage begins at 6 am EST all three weeks long with the race starting shortly thereafter.
Perhaps the best way to watch the Tour De France is through steaming. Wall-to-wall coverage will be streamed on NBC’s Peacock application. All 21 stages can be seen there. For those that prefer traditional TV, live coverage will be split between the NBC channel and USA Network to a smaller extent.
How To Bet On 2023 Tour De France?
To lock in your Tour de France bets, we recommend one of the betting sites below. All five listed earned high marks in our latest sportsbook reviews. That’s partly due to their massive sign-up bonuses with hundreds to thousands of dollars in free play. Spoiler alert: you can use those that money to bet on the Tour de France for free! See the table for a list of current deals.
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