Cycling Betting at Bally Bet Sportsbook

Even the most casual sports fan has probably heard of the Tour de France, the race widely considered to be the pinnacle of professional cycling.

But did you know that the French race is only one of a series of stage races known as the Grand Tours? And there are other big races across Europe and the rest of the world, from the Milan-San Remo to the Vuelta a Espana and the Giro d’Italia.

Professional cycling also has its own World Championship, and then, of course, there’s the Olympics.

That hectic schedule lends itself perfectly to cycling betting, with enough action throughout the year to keep bettors on their toes.

Whether you're a cycling enthusiast yourself, or a newcomer to the sport, there are plenty of opportunities to bet on cycling and make your knowledge count. And it’s not just about betting on the race winner either. There are plenty of different wager types to try right here at Bally Bet.

So, without further ado, let’s get stuck into our cycling betting guide.

How to Read Cycling Betting Odds

We’ll cover the many different cycling bet types that are available shortly, but first it’s worth noting that the most popular is the outright winner market for a particular race.

So, knowing how to bet on cycling is learning how to read futures odds, for the most part. You’ll be presented with a list of riders and their respective lines, which look something like this:

• Tadej Pogacar (+100)

• Jonas Vingegaard (+150)

• Geraint Thomas (+500)

• Daniel Martinez (+1000)

• Primoz Roglic (+1200)

Generally speaking, the riders will have a plus sign (+) ahead of their line. This indicates that they are odds against, with the number reflecting how much you would win from a $100 wager.

So, in the example above, a $100 bet on Pogacar would net $100 in profit if he were to win the race in question, plus your stake back. Vingegaard would bank you $150 from the same stake, and so on.

The key thing to know here about how to bet on cycling is that you don’t have to wager $100 if you don’t want to. The calculation is used to try and simplify the math of working out your potential payout. You can bet as little as $1 if you wish — the choice is yours.

On some occasions in the futures odds, but more likely in other markets with two or three possible outcomes, you’ll see a minus sign (-) next to the rider’s line. This signifies that they are odds on, and have a higher probability chance of winning (but that’s not to say that they will).

All that means when reading the cycling betting lines is that the calculation is flipped on its head: The number after the minus sign is the amount you need to wager in order to win $100.

For example, let’s say Pogacar is instead -150 in a head-to-head matchup with Vingegaard. These odds indicate that you win $100 for every $150 staked, but again, you can stake less or more if you want.

Popular Cycling Bets

The best cycling bets are unique to each bettor, and you might find particular favorites within the suite of options available here at Bally Bet.

But to give you an idea of what you can wager on in cycling, here are some of the most popular bet types.

Futures Odds

We’ve already touched on this, but it’s worth noting that betting on the race winner isn’t the only set of futures lines you can wager on in cycling.

Many of the Grand Tour races have different classifications, which can loosely be described as "races within the race". The winner of the Points Classification is awarded the green jersey. They win this by racking up more points in the various stages than any other rider, although that doesn’t mean that they will win the race overall.

You may also find odds for the Sprint and King of the Mountains Classifications, which are won by the rider that performs best within those particular disciplines.

Stage Wins

For the uninitiated, the big cycling races are split up into individual stages. These are essentially mini races that feed into the main leaderboard, taking place on different terrain from flat to hilly to mountainous, with time trials thrown in for good measure.

The best riders may pick up a couple of stage wins, but there’s scope for more riders to triumph in each individual stage. As a result, the Stage Wins betting market is an interesting way to back a few underdogs to prevail, at least for one day only.

Each rider in the field is given a totals line based on their expected number of wins, and your aim is to correctly predict the number of stage victories that a cyclist will enjoy.

Riders to Wear Yellow Jersey

The General Classification leader is handed the fabled yellow jersey in the Grand Tours, which sets them apart from the rest of the field.

The yellow jersey is awarded from the get-go in a big race, and will switch hands every time the standings are updated and a new leader takes prominence.

You can bet on how many different riders will, at some point, wear the yellow jersey in the race — this is a classic totals (over/under) market, with a line of either 4.5 or 5.5 generally given, depending on how many riders are expected to lead the standings.

Matchups

If you don’t want to wager on the outcome of the overall race, you can examine the matchups odds, which pit individual riders against one another.

As mentioned above, this will likely mean that one of the pair is the minus odds favorite, and the other a positive odds underdog, like so:

• Pogacar (-150) vs. Vingegaard (+100)

As a general rule, the matchups will be taken from the futures odds, so the two riders next to each other in the outright lines will be paired with one another in the matchup odds.

The basic matchup market refers to the overall race standings, so to win your bet you need your selection to finish above the rider they have been pitted against.

But for the biggest races, you may also see lines available for matchups within a particular classification, so if you know who the strongest riders are in the mountains, or those with an ability to accumulate plenty of points stage by stage, this bet type might just be for you.

Top Finishes

Although the emphasis is on the race for the yellow jersey, did you know that dozens of riders compete in the major competitions each year?

That’s one of the reasons that books open up their betting markets to cover places lower down the leaderboard, rather than just focusing on the race winner.

That means you’ll find odds for various other finishes in the standings, which are confirmed by the General Classification leaderboard.

Some examples of top finishes markets in cycling betting include:

• Top 3 Finish

• Top 5 Finish

• Top 10 Finish

Total Finishers

Different from the Top Finish market, here you’re looking to predict how many riders will be able to finish the grueling routes set out in the major races.

It’s similar to the totals bet type you may have experienced in other sports such as football or basketball. Books give you a numerical line, and you have to decide whether the number of finishers will be over or under that number.

For context, there are usually between 20 and 22 teams in the Tour de France, and each team can enter up to eight cyclists, so as many as 176 riders can take to the track.

However, due to the tough conditions – especially during the Mountains Classification – it’s unlikely that all will finish the race due to fatigue, injury, or mechanical failure.

Cycling Betting Tips

The best of the cycling betting tips, and this is the case for all of the sports you bet on, is to know as much as possible. For cycling, that means learn what you can about each rider, the individual stages, and the overall race before striking your wagers.

Knowledge is power, as the old saying goes, so the most pertinent cycling bet advice is to take a deep dive into some research, and plan your wagers in advance.

Of course, you always have the ability to react with live bets if the action isn’t panning out as expected. Always trying to watch what you’re betting on is also solid wagering advice.

Something that can sometimes go overlooked by bettors that's pertinent to many sports is the weather. This is particularly the case in cycling. Will the race play out in optimal conditions, or will there be wind, rain, or low temperatures?

In adverse conditions, the race may be slower and more tactical, with the number of finishers likely to be lower, too.

Cycling Betting App

As discussed, the longest and most grueling cycling races really do lend themselves to live betting, given that the conditions can change from one stage to the next. You’d be amazed at how the leaderboard can fluctuate across the various disciplines.

So utilizing a cycling betting app like ours may prove fruitful.

You'll get access to all of our cycling betting markets with just a couple of taps of your screen, which is a huge advantage when striking a wager that's time-sensitive.

You can access the full A-Z of sports using the Bally Bet app too, and take advantage of odds boosts and specials — perfect when you want to wager on the go.