The 2022 Tour de France Betting Guide

Cyclist: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)

Team: UAE Team Emirates

Where better to start than the consecutive two-time reigning Tour de France champion, Tadej Pogacar. At only 23 years old he has blown away several records, in particular because of his young age. He is currently sitting pretty as the UCI road racing world number one and has been there for 40 weeks. His first grand tour saw a third-place finish in the Vuelta a Espana. Two wins at his first two attempts in the Tour de France is matched only in the cycling hall of fame by Eddy Merkx, which is why he has been called the new ‘Cannibal’, Eddy’s nickname.

A six-stage winner he took the mountain and young rider classification in 2020 when he famously overcame a deficit to Primoz Roglic in the final stages to take the title. The following year he dominated and came home with a five-minute advantage. Not afraid to attack during a race, in particular pressuring his rivals up the greatest ascents, Pogacar has a potentially long and successful career ahead of him. Already a winner of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and an Olympic bronze medal, the 2022 season has seen several top 10 finishes including wins in the Strade Bianche and he dominated the Tirreno-Adriatico.

Primoz Roglic (Slovenia)

Team: Team Jumbo-Visma

A former ski jumper, Roglic has now turned his head to professional cycling. At 32 years old he has a great track record and won the Vuelta a Espana three years running between 2019 and 2021 with nine stage wins. As mentioned, he finished second in the Tour de France in 2020 when victory was almost in his grasp. A winner of three stages in the Tour and three in the Giro d’Italia, not to mention a gold medal in the time trial at the Olympics, he has a great heritage. The first Slovenian to win a grand tour stage and the 2020 winner of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, has he passed his best? This season’s form is a little erratic and maybe he has not recovered from that second place in the 2020 Tour de France. At 32 years of age and with plenty of experience, he may well be able to turn things around and start to challenge, as reflected by his ranking this year at number three in the UCI world rankings.

Wout van Aert (Belgium)

Team: Team Jumbo-Visma

A relatively strong start to the season has shown Wout van Aert’s good form. In the 2021 Tour de France, the six-time stage winner van Aert finished 19th; however. he was the first person to win a mountain stage, bunch sprint and time trial since Bernard Hinault in 1979. Winner of the Tour of Britain in 2021 and a silver medallist at the Olympic Games, so far this year van Aert has won the ES Saxo Bank Classic, finished second in the Paris-Roubaix and come third in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Matej Mohoric (Slovenia)

Team: Team Bahrain Victorius

27-year-old Matej Mohoric is another Slovenian cyclist and he is currently sitting fourth in the UCI world rankings. In 2021, Mohoric finished 31st in the Tour de France recording two stage wins and holding the polka dot jersey after the seventh stage. He has also recorded a stage win in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In 2020 he finished fourth in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and this year won the Milan-San Remo.  

Julian Alaphilippe (France)

Team: Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl Team

It will take a brave person to place a bet on Julian Alaphilippe to perform in the Tour de France 2022. Sadly, Alaphilippe was involved in a horrific crash in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2022 and suffered two broken ribs, broken scapula and a punctured lung leaving him needing hospital treatment. As one of the favourites to win that race it seems unlikely Alaphilippe will have had enough recovery time to participate in this year’s Tour de France.

Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)

Team: Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl Team

Another rider in the crop of next generation cycling superstars, 22-year-old Evenepoel once played football for the Belgium youth international team before realising his physical attributes were more suited to road racing. Unfortunately, his early racing career was hampered by a serious accident in 2020 on a mountain descent in II Lombardia, when he crashed and broke his pelvis. It seems his recovery is now complete and he stayed in the top 10 of the general classification of the Giro d’Italia during the first 15 stages in 2021 despite another crash ending his race. 2022 is a key year for Evenepoel to prove he is one of the best and he has risen up to second in the UCI world rankings having won the Volta au Algarve em Bicicleta. It may be the year that sees Evenepoel break his duck of no grand tour stage wins having emphatically won the 2022 Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic. He broke away from the field with 30 km of the race remaining and powered his way to victory alone in the 257km (160 mile) race.

Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark)

Team: Jumbo-Visma

A promising young rider at the age of 25-years-old, Jonas Vingegaard’s greatest achievement came last year in the Tour de France with an impressive 2nd place finish, 5 minutes and 20 seconds behind Tadej Pogacar. A solid start to 2022 has seen a sixth-place finish in the Tour of the Basque Country, second at the Tirreno-Adriatico and a classic win at The Drome.

Richard Carapaz (Ecaudor)

Team: Ineos Grenadiers

The 28-year-old Ecuadorian has some pedigree and is a Grand Tour winner. Last year in the Tour de France Carapez finished a creditable third place. A winner of the Giro d’Italia in 2019, he was the first Ecuadorian to win the race and only the second South American to take top spot on the podium. He also won gold in the 2021 Olympic Games road race and in 2022 has had a second-place finish in the Volta Cicliste a Catalunya.

Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands)

Team: Alpecin-Fenix

Despite being a rider who tends to suffer from back pain, it has not stopped him winning the 272km (169 mile) Ronde van Vlaanderen and the 184km (114 mile) Dwars door Vlaaanderen in 2022. He achieved one stage win in the Tour de France in 2021, winning the second stage to take the yellow jersey that he held for six days, ultimately retiring on stage nine.

With nearly 200 riders to choose from there are plenty of opportunities to bet in the Tour de France, whether it be for the yellow jersey, king of the mountains or stage winners. Remember cycling can be unpredictable with injuries, crashes and mechanical problems bringing a great deal of uncertainty to the racing, but this makes it even more exciting. At mr.play you will find numerous betting markets to take advantage of, but we encourage you to always bet responsibly. If you think you may have a problem with gambling then visit gambleaware.co.uk for free advice and support.