It’s been a fairly sombre start to the 2019 Tour de France through the first two weeks of racing. However, Saturday marks the first of week long stretch that sees five critical mountain stages in the run home to Paris!
To mark the massive stage on Saturday night, we have a short preview and betting tips for the action below.
Tour de France Stage 14 Betting Tips
The Race
Throughout the first two weeks of racing, it’s been Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe who has held the Yellow Jersey for the majority of the time. The Deceuinck-Quick Step rider took out Stage 3 and picked up a 26 second time advantage on his neareast competitor in a remarkably solo breakaway effort.
The No.1 rider in the world backed it up with another fantastic performance in the Stage 13 individual time-trial. While many thought that it would be a day of defence, trying not to give back too much time to the other Yellow Jersey contenders, Alaphilippe shocked everyone by winning the stage and extending his overall lead to a healthy 1’26.
The Stage
Stage 14 offers up one of the first true test for the mountain climbers and the first hors category climb (hardest category on the tour). The stage will be 117.5km in total and will see the riders travel from Tarbes to Tourmalet Barèges in the French Pyrenees.
The stage will provide the first high altitude finish of the race so far, which will see the riders climbing the famous Col du Tormalet. The mountain has been a staple in the Tour de France route, with 57 inclusions since 1947 and is regularly where the race is one or lost.
Before the riders reach the Col du Tourmalet finish, however, they’ll have to navigate a tricky Category 1 climb up the Col du Soulor, which actually has a steeper gradient than the finishing climb.
With two tough climbs throughout the stage, look for the peleton to be whittled down to just a few by the final moments of the stage.
Predictions
The current form of the No.1 rider in the world and his proven track record on the Col du Tourmalet make it tough to bet against him here. Alaphillipe claimed maximum points over the top of the Tourmalet last year, however, it wasn’t the finish to the stage and he certainly didn’t have the attention that he will receive from opposition this time around.
Alaphillipe was striving for the Polka Dot Jersey in 2018, so he was aggressive out of the blocks in Stage 20 in a bid to win points over the first two mountains of the stage. We won’t be seeing that again this year, and he’ll have to fight it out with the rest of the top climbers in the world if he wants to take the stage victory atop the Tourmalet.
Instead, we’ll be turning our attention to another Frenchman with a point to prove and someone who also has great pedigree on the Col du Tourmalet, Thibaut Pinot. Pinot was first across the line at the top of the Col du Tourmalet in 2017 and will likely have a little less attention on him this year as the 7th ranked rider in the Yellow Jersey standings currently.
He sits 49’ behind Alaphilippe, has a track record of being aggressive on the Tourmalet and is pound for pound one of the best climbers in the world. We think he is great value at $5.50 to win the stage.
Thibaut Pinot to win
$5.50
