Italy's Ivan Basso is the odds-on favorite to win the 2006 Tour de France; Germany's Jan Ullrich is the second most popular pick.
The two are touted at OddsChecker.com and PinnacleSports.com, two web-based gaming sites. Basso also won the TdF poll at Biking Bis last month and is the leading choice among participants in the Tour de France pool at the Smithers Minneapolis website.
Basso and Ullrich finished second and third, respectively, the Lance Armstrong in last year's Tour de France. Ullrich has one Tour championship under his belt, back in 1997; he has numerous podium finishes since then. Basso won the three-week Giro d'Italia in May.
PinnacleSports ranks Basso's odds at 11/10; Ullrich at 9/4. Cyclist Alejandro Valverde is 11/1 and Alexander Vinokourov is 13/1. Further down the list are Americans Floyd Landis (14/1), Levi Leipheimer (30/1), and George Hincapie (35/1).
Oddschecker listed Basso (5/4), Ullrich (5/2), Valverde (12/1), Landis (16/1) and Vinokourov (20/1). Oddsmakers also list odds for King of the Mountains, top 3 finishers, etc. (Tip from TdF blog)
The 38 participants in Smithers' pool picked Basso and Ullrich exclusively to win the Tour. Landis, Anatoly Popovych and Francisco Mancebo received a few votes for second. Smithers also gives points for prologue wins (David Zabriskie rules there) and L'Alpe d'Huez.
Basso received 59% of the votes to win the TdF in the Biking Bis poll earlier this month; Ullrich received 14%, followed by Hincapie, Landis, and Leipheimer and Popovych.
Recent Comments