2019 Tour de France Betting Guide: Picks, Predictions, and Tips

There’s grueling, then there’s the Tour de France grueling. No sport competition in the world taxes an athlete more than the 2,000-plus-mile bike race — and it’s not even close. Here’s everything you need to know before the 2019 competition, with the latest betting odds and picks (spoiler: an underdog is going to win it all)!

A horrific injury to Chris Froome last month has sent the Tour de France 2019 odds into a complete tailspin.

Froome, a four-time winner, was previously the betting favorite. Now, just days before the 106th edition of the race gets underway, live Tour de France odds from online sportsbooks have three clear-cut favorites ahead:

Geraint Thomas (+200)
Egan Bernal (+250)
Jakob Fuglsang (+550)

This might be the most wide-open Tour de France in recent memory. But fear not, we've done our homework on the event, which runs from July 6 to July 28. Here's what to expect:

Thomas' Back-to-Back Bid Won't Be Easy

Rightfully so, Geraint Thomas Tour de France odds are the best in the field. Honestly, even if Froome would've competed, Thomas should've been the man to beat. He was, after all, the 2018 winner, ending Froome's three-year title streak in the process.

But as irony would have it, Thomas almost ended up out of the Tour himself after a scary crash at last month's Tour of Switzerland. Thomas insists he's fine now, but inevitably his training schedule was knocked out of whack by the accident.

At the very least, by exiting early out of the Switzerland competition, he was robbed of precious miles along the mountain-filled course — an obstacle that awaits him in France.

The Switzerland injury also had one other lingering effect: the astronomical rise of Thomas' co-leader on Team Ineos, Bernal. With no Thomas, Bernal claimed victory in Switzerland, finishing 19 seconds ahead of runner-up Rohan Dennis.

That confidence-boosting win is the type of momentum that Thomas currently lacks.

However, Bernal isn't without his warts. The Columbian is all of 22 years old and has raced the Tour De France just once before — last year, finishing 15th overall. Bernal's lack of experience should give bettor's some pause.

If not Thomas nor Bernal, then what about Fuglsang? Honestly, we have no idea how the Danish cyclist has the third-best odds to win. He's 34 years old and has finished top-10 in Tour de France just once in eight times.

We're just not sold on any of the pre-race favorites and we have a feeling this is the year an outsider comes out of nowhere to win.

Best Darkhorse Candidates To Win Race

Alright, so you're skipping out on the favorites and picking a darkhorse, but which one? Well here are some longshots with reasonable Tour de France King of the Mountains odds:

Adam Yates (+1200)
Nairo Quintana (+1600)
Richie Porte (+1600)
Thibaut Pinot (+2000)
Mikel Landa (+2200)

We really love Yates Tour de France odds, especially at the bargain price of +1200. He checks a lot of the boxes that we're looking for in a winner. For one, he's in prime shape at 26 years old — not too young like Bernal, but certainly not on the decline either, unlike Thomas and Fuglsang.

Two, he's had success at the event before. Three times he's raced at the Tour de France and finished as high as fourth in 2016. Admittedly, he did disappoint a year ago at this very event. A bad case of dehydration dropped Yates all the way to 29th. However, you can look on the bright side and chalk that up as a learning lesson for Yates.

Three, he comes into the race with some momentum. At last month's Criterium du Dauphine — the great annual precursor to Tour — Yates wore the yellow jersey deep into the race. Unfortunately, flu-like symptoms forced him to withdraw, but confidence was instilled nonetheless.

Fourth, he'll be pushed along the race by his Mitchelton-Scott teammate and twin brother, Simon Yates.

Historically, the Australian race team has kept the twin brothers apart during the Tour de France. They rode in the same tour back in 2015 — finishing 50th (Adam) and 89th (Simon) — before Mitchelton-Scott alternated the years each competed in solo.

The inclusion of both this year shows just how invested Mitchelton-Scott is in laying claim to victory.

If you need one last reason to back Yates, let it be that he's from England. Get this, six of the past seven Tour de France victors have hailed from Britain. We expect the Brit domination to continue in 2019, this time courtesy of Yates.

Betting pick: Adam Yates (+1200)

How To Watch and Bet Tour De France

The Tour de France has never been for the faint of heart, but that doesn't just apply to riders, but to spectators, as well. Following the race for three weeks on TV is a marathon in itself. Devoted marathoners should make NBC Sports Network its home for the three-week-long event. The channel will have daily coverage from start to podium time.

Cord-cutters can take advantage of the NBC Sports Gold app. For a yearly subscription at $55 a pop, you'll get live streams of the Tour de France, along with other NBC-owned sports content.

Now that you're caught up on the world's most prestigious cycling event, all that is left is to lay down a bet. Check out one of the sportsbooks below to get all Tour de France odds winner plus more.