The Tour de France is the cycling world’s crowning event. Even though Lance Armstrong ended up being a disappointment, he provided the cycling world with a valuable asset—he managed to capture the minds and hearts of the American population. Armstrong’s performances during the Tour de France were the introduction many people had to cycling as a sport.
Since then, the popularity of cycling has fluctuated. In recent years, that popularity has been growing again. This growth is partly fueled by an interest in betting on the Tour de France. Sports betting has become incredibly popular in the United States, just like it is in most European countries.
This article will break down everything you need to know about how to bet on the 2025 Tour de France, from choosing the right sportsbook for you to which types of bets are best suited to this event.
The 2025 Tour de France
The 2025 Tour de France will begin in Lille on July 5th. The route will then wind its way west and south, reaching Peyragudes on July 18th. The next stages will cross back to the east, with a rest day in Montpellier. From there, the route will move north to finally finish in Paris down the Champs-Élysées on July 27th.
As always, the Tour de France is made up of regular race days and individual time trials. Unlike some routes, this year will see an almost perfect balance between flat, hilly, and mountain stages. This will also be the first year since 2020 that the route will be entirely within France.
There will be eight new towns to the Tour. These are Lauwin-Planque, Bayeux, Chinon, Ennezat, Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy, Bollène, Vif, and Mantes-la-Ville. The highest point on the route will be the Col de la Loze at 2,304 m.
The field is made up of 176 riders across 22 teams. There are many returning cyclists aiming to improve on their performances from previous years, as well as an impressive selection of young riders competing for the white jersey.
Find a sportsbook
Finding a sportsbook that offers odds on cycling is much easier now than it used to be before cycling caught mainstream sporting attention. The first thing to always do is check the licensing information for the sportsbooks you’re considering. Sportsbooks need to be fully licensed by the appropriate licensing body in order to operate legally, so this is very important.
Then, make sure the sportsbook offers odds on the Tour de France and other cycling events. Before you start betting on a major event like the Tour de France, it is a smart idea to place smaller bets on events you’re less emotionally and mentally invested in.
Check the sportsbook accepts payment methods you’re comfortable using. There should always be several reliable payment methods, like bank/wire transfers, credit/debit cards, and standard payment apps. Betting with cryptocurrency is also becoming popular but should only be done if you’re already familiar with cryptocurrencies.
Reading reviews and gambling forum discussions about the sportsbook is a helpful final step. These can give you an insight into what the platform is like for regular bettors. Reviews on betting guides may also have special bonuses for new bettors, which is a great way to get started.
Place interesting bets
Betting on the Tour de France wouldn’t be very interesting if you only placed a single bet on who you think will be the overall winner. An event like the Tour de France, which has stages—multiple types of events (mass-start stages, time trials, etc.), and multiple winning jerseys (yellow for the overall winner, polka dot for the king of the mountains, green for sprints, and white for young riders)—is perfect for complex bets.
Complex bets are bets that let you make several selections and place a range of bets to maximize the chances of getting some return. They can be fairly simple, like a Trixie bet or a Double bet. They can also be incredibly complex, like a Heinz bet which is made up of 57 different bets on 6 selections.
For those who are new to betting or experimenting with complex bets, an odds calculator is a very useful tool. The one at AskGamblers works well and the site has links to other tools for sports bettors.
Do your research
Before doing anything betting-related, you should always do your research on the sport. This goes for cycling as well. To place smart bets, you have to have a decent knowledge of the current athletes, their stats, recent performances, and team dynamics.
For cycling fans, this is the most enjoyable part of the process. Research can simply mean watching races, keeping track of the outcomes of various cycling events, and reading insider interviews with cyclists, trainers, and team personnel.
Some of the upcoming events to keep an eye on before the Tour de France begins are the Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. Paris-Roubaix also remains one of the most important races on the calendar and has historically given fans a glimpse of how the Tour de France may play out on a grander scale.
Final thoughts
Advertorial: Betting on the Tour de France is no different from betting on any other sport. Online sportsbooks provide a convenient way to bet while offering access to betting markets and odds that would be more difficult to find at retail sportsbooks.
Just like with other sports, doing your research and knowing the sport inside and out is key to placing smart bets. They may not always pay out, but half the fun is learning everything there is to know about the cyclists, this year’s terrain, and the teams involved. The Tour de France is also an ideal time to try placing complex bets.