Cycling might not be as popular as sports such as football or rugby, but you can still find some great cycling odds and plenty of markets at the best sports betting sites out there, especially when the big events are on such as the Tour de France. In the following article we are going to discuss the different types of cycling races, the different types of cyclists, and then round it up by discussing the different type of cycling bets that you can make.
Different Types of Road Cycling Races
So, to start with, we are going to take a look at the different types of cycling races.
Single day: A professional single day race can be 180 miles long, depending on the location and the course. Riders might do so many laps of a circuit or they will cycle from one place to another.
Time Trial: There are two types of time trials and these are Individual Time Trial and Team Time Trial. With the former, cyclists race on a course alone and the cyclist with the fastest time wins. With the latter, it is the same idea, but each member of the team starts the race at a different time and they then ride in a line, and each member takes their turn riding at the front.
Stage: These races consist of a number of stages which participants ride consecutively. At the end of the event, the rider that has the lowest (the fastest) combined time will be declared the winner. They can also be a road race series or individual time trials. There are a number of stage races that can last 3 weeks, and these are known as tours - you have the famous tours such as the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, as well as the Vuelta a Espana.
Ultramarathon: This is a long race where the clock runs from the start and does not stop until the cyclist crosses over the finish line. These races can last a number of days and the riders can take breaks at their own convenience. The majority of participants will need a team to help them through this type of event as some ultramarathons are more than 3,000 miles long.
Types of Cyclists
There are different types of cyclists and you should familiarise yourself with these before you go ahead and start betting on a cycling race. Below we have discussed the main types for you:
Climber: A cyclist that is good at riding on hilly terrain and courses.
Puncher: A cyclist that is good at riding on rolling terrain with steep or short hill climbs.
Time trialist: A cyclist that has the ability to keep up high speeds for long time periods.
Sprinter: A cyclist that can reach high speeds quickly and explosively.
Domestique: A cyclist that words to serve the leader or team rather than win themselves.
All-rounder: A cyclist who performs well in all types of cycling.
Popular Betting Options
When you head to the cycling section of the bookie that you have an account with you will find plenty of different types of bets that you can place.
Cycling Futures
Any bookie worth its salt will allow their customers to bet on the winner of a race. So, for example, when the Tour de France is just around the corner the bookies will provide their customers with a list of the participating riders, with those most likely to win being at the top. You will get good odds for these, but this is because they can be pretty hard to win due to how many cyclists take part in a race. The odds for the big events are usually put up months in advance, so if you get in early you can get even better odds.
Top 3 Finish
If you are into your golf and like to bet on it, then you will already have an idea as to what this is. This type of bet gives you a slight margin for error if you are not too sure what cyclist will come up on top because the cyclist you choose only has to come in one of the top 3 positions in order for you to win your bet. Since you have a better chance of winning, the odds will be lower than the aforementioned future bet.
Top 10 Finish
This is the same as the above, but this time the cyclist that you pick can finish in the top 10 in order to win you money. However, since you have an even greater chance of landing a winner, the odds will be a lot lower than the type of bet that we just spoke about above.
Stage Betting
If you believe that a cyclist will do better at a particular stage in a race, you can place a bet on them to win that stage. All of the stages will have different betting odds, so you can improve your chances of winning if you know the cyclist’s style and whether they perform better on certain terrains. For example, if they are known for performing well on a mountain terrain, then it could be a wise move to bet on them to win the stage where they go through the mountain terrain.