Tour de France set to start as riders prepare for Stage One battle

The 2011 Tour de France gets underway on Saturday with Stage 1 starting in the Vendee. The 191.5km stage starts at the Passage du Gois riding along the coast before heading inland towards Les Herbiers and finishing at Mont des Alouettes. Who will come out on top and take the yellow jersey into Stage 2?

The usual suspects will be competing to cross the finish line first in Stage 1 but the conventional sprinters could struggle with a few hills towards the end of the stage. It could be left to the stronger men in the field to battle it outto the finish line. Thor Hushovd who Betclic has priced at 5,50 and the high priced Thomas Voeckler will be strong contenders to cross the line first.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who won five stages in last year’s Tour de France, is another who is highly priced at 30.00 but he could find it hard with the climbs close to the finish. The HTC Highroad rider is also the 2,25 favourite to take the overall Points Classification.

Looking further ahead two men stand out as contenders for the outright winner’s jersey. Last year’s winner Alberto Contador is clear favourite at 1,75 and bidding to become the first man in 13 years to win the Tour de France and the Giro d-Italia double. While his main competition comes from last year’s runner up Andy Schleck at 2,75.

Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins will be hoping he can put himself into the mix after winning the traditional Tour de France warm-up, the Dauphine Libere. He is highly priced at 30,00 to challenge for the yellow jersey but could challenge for the podium The British rider is priced at 4,00 to finsih in the top three.

Outright winner odds                              Young rider Classification Odds

Alberto Contador 1,75                                         Robert Gesink 1,30

Andy Schleck 2,75                                              Roman Kreuziger 9,00

Cadel Evans 25,00                                               Bauke Mollema 11,00

Robert Gesink 25,00                                            Rein Taaramae 13,00

Bradley Wiggins 30,00                                         Jerome Coppel 15,00

Ivan Basso 30,00                                                Tejay Van Garderen 22,00

King of the Mountains Odds                  Points Classification Odds

Alberto Contador 3,50                                     Mark Cavendish 2,25

Andy Schleck 6,00                                          Alessandro Petacchi 5,50

Anthony Charteau 8,00                                   Thor Hushovd 7,00

David Moncoutie 8,00                                      Philippe Gilbert 8,00

Damiano Cunego 10,00                                    Edvals Boasson Hagen 12,00

Thomas Voeckler 15,00                                    Jose Joaquin Rojas 13,00

Christophe Kern 18,00                                      Tyler Farrar 15,00

John Gadret 18,00                                           Andre Greipel 22,00

Robert Gesink 18,00                                        Tom Boonen 30,00

Alexandre Vinokourov 20,00                              Ben Swift 35,00

 Stage One Winner Odds                             Podium Odds

Philippe Gilbert 2,25                                        Alberto Contador 1,12

Thor Hushovd 5,50                                          Andy Schleck 1,30

Alessandro Petacchi 15,00                                Cadel Evans 3,50

Matthew Goss 15,00                                        Robert Gesink 3,50

Thomas Voeckler 15,00                                     Bradley Wiggins 4,00

Alexandre Vinokourov 20,00                               Ivan Basso 4,50

Edvals Boasson Hagen 25,00                               Frank Schleck 5,50

Fabian Cancellara 25,00                                      Samuel Sanchez 5,50