Tour de France 2024 Prediction and Betting Tips: Best bets featuring 25/1 fancy

For the first time since 1905 the winner of the Tour de France will not be crowned in Paris this year, with cycling's biggest race finishing on the French Riviera in Nice due to the French capital hosting the Olympic Games.

Three weeks of intense racing kicks off in Florence, Italy on Saturday and all eyes will be on the latest chapter in the rivalry between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar; winners of the last four yellow jerseys.

Both currently have two Tour triumphs to their name, but only one can bring up the hat-trick this summer.

Vingegaard has been a deserved winner of the last two editions of the Tour de France, cracking the previously unflappable Pogacar on both occasions.

Much of that has been a case of Vingegaard having a stronger team than Pogacar, but last summer it also owed plenty to the Slovene's interrupted preparation after breaking his wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

The tables have been turned this year with Vingegaard admitting that just being on the start line in Florence is a "victory" after he suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung in a horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April.

The Dane’s misfortune has presented Pogacar with a golden opportunity to create history as he bids to become the first man in 26 years to complete the Tour-Giro d'Italia double.

Pogacar ticked off the first leg of that assignment with a dominant performance at May's Giro, following on from a spring campaign in which few riders could lay a glove on him.

If Pogacar is in the same form as he has been so far this year then even a fully-fit Vingegaard may struggle to stop him wrestling back the Maillot Jaune from the Sandinavian's grasp.

As it is, Pogacar may prove unstoppable.

The 2024 Tour de France will be Romain Bardet's last as a professional road cyclist and France's once great hope of ending their wait for a Tour winner could end his association with the race on a high.

A coveted yellow jersey is likely to prove well beyond Bardet, but he does look a decent price in the King of the Mountains betting.

Winner of the iconic polka-dot jersey in 2019, Bardet showed up well at May's Giro, where he finished ninth and recorded three top-seven stage finishes.

Second place to Pogacar at Liege-Bastogne-Liege showed that he still retains his climbing abilities and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him target stage victories in the mountains on his farewell trip around his homeland.

That would lead him to contest for plenty of points in the King of the Mountains contest and, at 25-1, he is definitely worth a small interest.

Repeat winners of the polka-dot jersey are not uncommon - there have been five since 2000 - and what better way for Bardet to sign off at the Tour than with a jersey on his back?