Evans Favorite in Tour de France Odds

The Pyrenees stage of the 2008 Tour de France is now over, and those with some petrol left in the tank can look forward to three consecutive stages of flat stage riding through south-eastern France, beginning with today's 12 th stage 168km (103 mi.) ride from Lavelanet to Narbonne.

Cadel leads the charge
Pre-competition favorite Cadel Evans remains the odds-on winner to take the tour. He goes into the second half of the 21-stage event wearing the maillot jaune (yellow jersey), worn each race by the current overall leader.

Evans, who took the yellow jersey from Dutchman Kim Kirchen during the Pyrenees stage of the tour, is 4/5 at Ladbrokes to become the first Aussie to ever take the world's most prestigious cycling event.  He is followed by Russian Dennis Menchov, 9/2, and Riccardo Ricco (Italy), Carlos Sastre (Spain) and Frank Schleck (Luxembourg) at 9/1.

No other rider is given a serious chance of winning by the bookmakers at this stage.

Other odds
With just four cyclists considered a serious chance of challenging Evans' supremacy, it's worth having a look at other forms of odds betting being offered on this year's Tour de France.

With the competitors set to return to the mountains on Sunday for three days of intense riding through the Alps in the French-Italian border area, the competition for "King of the Mountain" is sure to heat up.

Riccardo Ricco, who currently wears the polka dot jersey as the leader of the mountain classification competition, is the favorite at 2/5. He is followed by Spaniard David de la Fuente Rasilla, 4/1. Evans, rated ninth in the current mountain rankings, is an equal seventh-favorite at 33/1.

Ladbrokes also offers betting on the winner of each stage, as well as head-to-head betting between particular riders, updated each day online. Visit Sport Lines for a list of reviewed sports betting websites.