Tour de France 2012

Bradley Wiggins to win Tour de France 11/8 Betfair.

The Tour de France begins today in Liege and Britain’s Bradley Wiggins is the stand out favourite to win cycling’s marquee event and become the first Brit to do so.

The 32 year old started his professional cycling career on the track, winning six medals in three Olympic events, including two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Although he started his road cycling career in 2002 it wasn’t until 2008, after his Olympic success, that he focused on road events.

It proved to be a shrewd move after he finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France, equalling the highest place finish by a British rider.

He improved on that with his first Major win following a first place finish in Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011 and repeated the feat this year; also claiming the Paris-Nice and Tour de Romandie title earlier this year.

Team Sky led by Wiggins, are 3/1 to be the winning team.

Although much fancied, Wiggins’ victory is far from sealed, there are some outstanding candidates who can push him all the way.

Last year’s surprise winner Cadel Evans is expected to be his closest opponent, but last year’s fortuitous victory is unlikely to be repeated in our opinion; despite his winning ride in the Critérium International.

Evans is 13/5 to retain the famous trophy.

However we quite fancy Vincenzo Nibali to be his biggest challenger and possibly win.

The 27 year Old Italian had his best year in 2010, finishing first in the Tour de San Luis. He then went on to win Vuelta a Espana, despite failing to win a stage.

In 2012 he won the Terreno-Adriatico, again without really dominating but this time he did win one stage.

It is this kind of consistency that makes him a real threat to Wiggins and at 23/1 is definitely worthy of some strong consideration. At those odds an each way bet would bring a decent return, for those of you who like to be a little more conservative with your money.