Tour de France odds 2014: Chris Froome favored to repeat

The 2014 Tour de France begins on Saturday in Leeds, one of only four years a stage at the premier cycling event has been held in England. So it’s only fitting that the defending champion, a Brit, is the favorite to win again in 2014.

Chris Froome, leader of Britain’s Team Sky, won the race in 2013, and per Bovada is the favorite to win in 2014, at 1/1 odds. Spain’s Alberto Contador, the Tour de France winner in 2007 and 2009, is close behind with 11/8 odds. Both are given 1/3 odds by Bovada to finish in the top three.

There is a big drop after that, with Vincenzo Nibali at 9/1 odds, Alejandro Valverde at 18/1 and Andrew Talansky at 25/1. Nobody else has better than 40/1 odds.

Here are the odds to win the 2014 Tour de France heading into Saturday’s first stage:

Chris Froome 1/1

Alberto Contador 11/8

Vincenzo Nibali 9/1

Alejandro Valverde 18/1

Andrew Talansky 25/1

Richie Porte 40/1

Rui Costa 40/1

Tejay van Garderen 40/1

Chris Horner 50/1

Jurgen Van den Broeck 66/1

Bauke Mollema 80/1

Joaquim Rodriguez 80/1

Michal Kwiatkowski 80/1