The 2024 Tour de France Is Set to Be a Record-Breaker
With 500,000-plus spectators watching the peloton whiz by at an average speed of over 40 kilometres per-hour every day, the Tour de France always wins the award for the most attended sporting event in the world. Apart from a World Cup every fourth year, the Tour de France’s global television audience of 3.5 billion makes it the most-watched sporting event in the world.
Green jersey winner Jasper Philipsen, Tour de France 2023 winner Jonas Vingegaard, Polka dot jersey winner Giulio Ciccone and white jersey winner Tadej Pogacar celebrate during the podium ceremony following the final stage of the 110th Tour de France. ©Getty
Ask anyone to name a bike race, and 99 times out of 100, they will say, “The Tour de France”. Likewise, nine people out of ten can tell you what the term ‘Yellow Jersey’ means. The race may have been dragged through the mud courtesy of doping scandals between 1998 and 2011, but the Tour has had its dignity returned, and it is now bigger than ever.
Join cycling betting expert Roy Brindley as he looks at this year’s race, which will start outside of France for the third successive year. It will begin in cycling-mad Italy for the first time, and, in another first, 2024’s race will not finish in the French capital, Paris.
It Was a Paper That Made a Show of Cycling
The Tour de France was created in 1903 by L’Auto magazine, a French newspaper that hoped to increase sales and the circulation of its publication. The media world has changed a lot since, and newspapers now play second fiddle to the internet, television, and streaming services.
It takes 300 staff, four helicopters, two aircraft, two motorcycles and 35 other vehicles[1] to produce the Tour de France pictures that are beamed across the world. In 2023, Netflix broadcast an eight-episode series titled Tour de France: Unchained. Produced by the same Netflix team responsible for the highly successful Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the show followed a similar structure.
Such was the success of the fly-on-the-wall documentary; a second series will debut on June 11. It follows the happenings at the 2023 Tour, and this time, the sport’s biggest star, two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, will feature in the popular show.
Big Names in a Race to Be Tour Ready
The Netflix factor is one of the reasons why 2024’s race is likely to be the most-watched Tour de France ever. The race may not conclude in Paris – as the French capital focuses on its Olympic Games preparations – but a route through cycling-fanatical Italy and a visit to Monaco will bolster its popularity.
A competitive race in 2024 will also receive a seal of approval from casual viewers. 2022 and 2023 winner Jonas Vingegaard could head the cast. The Dane will hope to be fully recovered from the injuries he sustained in a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in early April.
The horrific accident left him hospitalised for 12 days. In a race against time, the 27-year-old will have to be at the top of his game to complete a hat-trick. Many cycling betting sites have the Team Visma–Lease a Bike rider quoted using horse racing’s ‘with a run’ terms.
Three-time Tour of Spain and 2023 Giro d’Italia winner Primož Roglič will be a formidable opponent. Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 Tour of Spain winner who sustained a broken collarbone and scapula in the same Basque Country crash[2] as Vingegaard, is another who can stake a claim if fully fit.
The First Time Trial in 35 Years
Cycling bookmakers rate the 2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner (also second in 2022 and 2023), Tadej Pogačar, the most probable winner. The 25-year-old impressively won the early season Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Strade Bianche. Slovenia’s finest sportsman has most recently excelled in the Giro d’Italia.
Claiming six stage wins – the most by a Giro general classification winner since Eddie Merckx in 1973 – he won the Italian contest by four seconds shy of 10 minutes. This margin of victory was the greatest at a grand tour since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10 minutes and 32 seconds.
Despite winning the Tour twice, Fignon is probably best remembered for losing the 1989 edition of the race on the final day. The Frenchman led all-time-great Greg LeMond by fifty seconds at the start of the final stage, an individual time trial, into Paris.
LeMond was not expected to be able to make up the deficit in the 24.5-kilometre individual sprint to the line. However, at an average speed of 54.5 kilometres per-hour, the American recorded the fastest individual time trial ever ridden in the Tour de France (up to that point) and snatched his second Tour title by eight seconds.
Owing to its thrilling climax – the winning margin is the shortest in the race’s history – the 1989 Tour ranks amongst the best in history. This bodes well for this year’s contest as, for the first time since, the 2024 Tour de France will conclude with a race against the clock.
Monaco is the decisive time trial’s starting point, and Nice is where it will finish 34 kilometres later. This means that the yellow jersey will not be decided on the penultimate day – as has become the norm during the past 35 years – and 21 stages will mean 21 days of hard racing.
What Does the 2024 Tour de France Have in Store?
The 2024 Tour de France features two time-trials, eight flat stages, four hilly stages and seven mountain days. Four stages will be summit finishes, and there will be 27 categorised climbs along the way. The 111th edition of the race covers a total distance of 3,492 kilometres, of which 32 kilometres will be raced on gravel roads during stage nine.
At 229 kilometres, stage three – from Piacenza to Turin – will be the longest. Excluding the time trials on stages seven and 21, the 133-kilometre trip from Nice to Col de la Couillole on July 20 (stage 20) will be the shortest.
2024’s race will consist of 22 teams of eight riders. Amongst the number are all 18 UCI WorldTour teams, the two best-ranked UCI ProTeams – the Belgian lottery-backed Lotto–Dstny and Israel–Premier Tech – plus the organiser-invited Uno-X Mobility and TotalEnergies teams.
Tour de France Jerseys and Prizes
There is more than the ‘Yellow Jersey’ prize – awarded to the rider that finishes the course in the lowest cumulative time – on the line. A stage winner will be crowned every day, and there are three other jerseys, plus combativity and team classification awards to be fought over. Tour de France bookmakers will offer markets on all outcomes.
The Green Jersey will be worn and eventually won by the points classification leader. Points are accumulated at each stage finish – and ‘intermediate sprints’ which are placed within a stage (usually around the midway point) – with riders being awarded points based on their finishing position. The higher the finish, the more points that are gained.
The Polka-Dot Jersey denotes the leader of the King of the Mountains classification. Like the green jersey, this is a points-based classification where riders score points for being among the first few to reach hill and mountain tops.
The leader of the Young Rider classification wears the White Jersey. Like the yellow jersey, it is a time-based category but is restricted to riders who will remain under 26 in the year the race is held. Tadej Pogačar has claimed this prize for the past four years. However, this year he is ineligible.
Who Will Win the Tour de France Prizes?
The complete Tour de France start list will not be known until closer to the Grand Départ on June 29 in Florence, Italy. Until then, the UK’s betting sites are flying slightly blind with their betting markets. Much depends on Jonas Vingegaard’s participation – or non-participation.
Richard Plugge, general manager of his Team Visma Lease-a-Bike team, has said his star will only compete at the Tour de France if he is “one hundred percent”. However, updates on the two-time winner’s progress and fitness levels are few and far between.
Consequently, most Tour de France betting sites have introduced a ‘without Vingegaard’ betting market. It sees Tadej Pogačar trading on 4/11. Primož Roglič on 9/2 and Remco Evenepoel, 10/1, follow.
All of the ‘big four’ have at least a small cloud hanging over them. Primož Roglič was a third rider injured in the notorious Basque Country crash, and he has had an interrupted Tour preparation.[3] Pogačar aced the Giro, but what has it taken out of him? Seven riders have attempted to win the Tour after landing the Giro in the same year since 1998, but none have managed it.
Riders to Look Out For
Interesting names further down the betting list include 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal (25/1), 2023 Tour of Spain winner Sepp Kuss (33/1), 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (225/1) and six-time Grand Tour podium finisher Nairo Quintana 250/1.
Cian Uijtdebroeks, a 225/1 shot, has fewer miles in his legs than any of these rivals, and if taking part in the 2024 Tour, he could surprise many of them. Just 21, based on his ability to sit fifth in the Giro d’Italia before his withdrawal ahead of stage 11 through illness, he looks a good bet for the White Jersey.
Mark Cavendish has delayed retirement plans to race in the Tour for a fifteenth time. The plan is to break Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour de France stage victories. There will be bookmaker betting markets on the 39-year-old achieving the feat.
Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan shone in the sprints at the Giro d’Italia and could do so again. Jasper Philipsen was on fire in last year’s Tour de France, sprinting to victory four times. Wout van Aert, also on the comeback trail following an early season injury, is another Cavendish stumbling block. The Belgian has won nine stages since 2019.
*The 2024 Tour de France will be broadcast on TV in more than 200 countries worldwide. Viewers in the UK and Ireland can watch the coverage live on Eurosport and Discovery+.
- Tour de France Broadcasting, (May 26, 2024), Wikipedia, Retrieved May 28, 2024.
- Full medical bulletin from the horror crash at Itzulia Basque Country, (April 5, 2024), Global Cycling Network, Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- Primož Roglič focuses on regeneration and training, (April 12, 2024), Bora Hansgrohe News, Retrieved May 30, 2024.
