Cycles played and still play an essential part in human development. Before cars, most people got around using cycles, and even today, people use cycles as a mode of transportation. People also use cycles as a form of exercise, and most gyms host stationary cycles for people to access. Cycling is easy to do and understand, so the sport’s growth and popularity in the 20th and 21st century.

Punters used to make several wagers on cycling races and tournaments until the 21st century. In 2012, the Lance Armstrong doping scandal came to light keeping several punters away from making a wager in a fixed cycling race. Several other athletes in the sport have also tested positive for drugs that tarnished the sport’s image for a while. Over the past decade, cycling has become competitive with better regulation causing the number of wagers made on cycling races to increase each year.

5 Cycling Betting Strategies

The top 5 cycling betting strategies include making a wager on the type of cycling race, the location of the race, the grade of the circuit, the betting markets available, access to domestic cycling races, and head-to-head betting markets.

1. Types Of Cycling Races

Punters and fans have access to many types of cycling races. Punters can wage on-road cycling races, BMX races, mountain biking races, off-road cycling races, individual time races against a timer, and speedway racing over short distances. Some races require speed, others require endurance, and most need both. The duration of a race can be an essential factor in determining how a punter makes a wager. For example, a bet on the winner in the Grand Tour would take on average three weeks to resolve. However, the winner’s chance in a speedway race would take under a minute to a few minutes to determine.

2. Location Of The Race And Circuit

Different races take place in other parts of the world. And different parts of the world have diverse terrain, circuits, and rules for the race. Some races take three weeks to determine, while others take a few hours. Races in the most challenging courses are called grand tours. They also bring in the most wagers and have some of the highest winnings for individual sports. The tour de France in France, the Giro d’Italia in Italy, and the Vuelta an Espana in Spain make up the grand tour cycling tournaments. Some cyclists are better on straight tracks, while others are better on curved ones. An uphill path, the weather, and wind speed are also essential factors in determining the outcome of a race.

3. Cycling Betting Markets

Punters have access to multiple cycling betting markets apart from making wagers on race winners. Bets on race winners can be hard to predict depending on the number of cyclists. Odds can range between 5/1 to 500/1 on race winners. Punters can make wagers in other betting markets such as stage betting market, head-to-head betting market, top-3 finish, young rider, king of the mountain, most stunts (BMX), and more. Other betting markets give punters different betting opportunities with various odds, in-play, and pre-game wagers, access to better payouts, and limited risk.

4. Access To Domestic Races

The Tour de France is a popular cycle racing tournament that attracts punters and sports bettors worldwide, with millions of wagers flowing to sportsbooks. While punters have several betting options in main cycling events, punters can win more wagers and spot more opportunities in domestic races. Domestic races enable new talent to participate and can throw up unexpected results from time to time. In addition, punters can get an edge by following domestic races and cyclist performances as they move from domestic racing to professional racing.

5. Head-to-head

Punters can place wagers on head-to-head races on who will finish higher or lower. Making a head-to-head wager between punters gives a punter a higher chance of winning a bet with two possible outcomes. First, a punter making a wager on the winner of a race or stage of a race has a lower chance of winning but the option of taking home a higher payout. Second, two evenly matched cyclists have higher head-to-head payouts versus unevenly matched cyclists.