Pros On Bikes – The Tour de France in 21 Stages Of Glory

Most stages of the Tour de France are in mainland France, but 11 other countries or principalities have hosted stages or part of a stage.

In a matter of months caravans will be lining up all over France and hundreds of police officers and gendarmes (county cops) will be boiling under their ‘kepis’ as they try to ward of the sun and control the crowd during the 102nd edition of the 2015 Tour de France. The Tour de France which features multiple stage cycling races, every year, all over France will ride off from Utrecht in the Netherlands.

For from time to time, the Tour begins in a nearby European country then they take the leap over into France. Last year it started in the English countryside where awed onlookers had EU gambling news screaming reports of the massive turn out wherever the Tour de France passed through. But it’s nothing new as the Tour de France has started off from as many as 21 other places in countries like Belgium, West Germany, Spain, Luxembourg , Switzerland and Monaco.

Features of Tour de France 2015

This year the tourney, which is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organization, is the 18th race of a 2015 World Tour that UCI, the governing body for cyclist, will oversee. For three weeks millions of spectators, supporters, sponsors and of course gamblers on online gambling sites in the EU will be tuned into one of the most popular global sports on land, in the summer time.

With this comes a huge responsibility. For routes have to be cleared, cyclists have to be monitored and accidents have to be prevented. Zero Defaults are allowed in the Tour where the format of the race includes a passage through the Pyrenees and Alps mountains. The grand climax will be, as usual, on the prestigious Champs -Elysées in Paris, the most-visited city in the world.

This year, Tour de France 2015 will run from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th 2015. There will be the 21 stage to cover over 3,344 kilometers in 21 days. The stages consist of 9 flat stages, 3 hilly ones, 7 in the mountains, with 5 finishes at high altitudes, 1 individual time-trial stage and 1 team time-trial stage. With all that, the cyclists only have 2 days to cool off.

What’s new this year are the 6 exciting cities added which are Utrecht in the Netherlands, Zélande, Livarot, La Pierre-Saint-Martin, Muret which is near Toulouse, the famed ‘pink town’ and Sèvres – Grand Paris Seine Ouest. Other novelties concern the changes being made are the time bonuses is once again being introduced for the 2015 edition of the race. The three first finishers of the stages will earn bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, in the first part of the Tour.

However bonuses are not given out for time trial stages. There will also be a change in the Sprint competition points system. It is argued that the Sprint points rule change is set up to make a stage win more worthy A stage win will go up 5 points, from 45 to 50. Second place awards will go down from 35 to 30 instead of 35. Third place win will move down 10 notches from 30 to 20. Speaking of winning, the record winners include four riders who won five times.

Lance Armstrong stripped of his Tour de France titles

They are Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault from France, Eddy Merckx from Belgium, and Miguel Indurain from Spain. These men raced and won between 1957 and 1995. While three riders, Philippe Thyse, a Belgian, Louison Bobet a French and Greg Lemond an American copped a trio win having won three times between 1913 and 1990.

Lance Armstrong was another American who won the Tour de France, even after a long battle with cancer. He however had his 7 Tour de France titles taken away, disappointing millions of fans who wagered on him in online betting sites all over the world. This, when he admitted to having taken drugs to improve his performance after being dogged by accusations from a lab which had tested him positive in his Tours.

The teams for 2015

The Amaury Sport Organization have already divulged the 22 lucky teams that supporters can bet on under EU gambling laws, this year. Among those admitted to the race are AG2R-La Mondiale, Astana, BMC Racing, Etixx-QuickStep, FDJ, IAM Cycling, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Orica-GreenEdge, Cannondale-Garmin, Giant Alpecin, Katusha, Team LottoNL-Jumbo, Team Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek Factory Racing, and Bretagne – Séché Environnement.

The 4 other teams drawn from a Wild Card include MTN-Qhubeka, Bora-Argon 18, Cofidis, Europcar and Bretagne – Séché Environnement. As for popular individuals vying for the title, it will be an exciting showdown between Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome. So with the Tour de France just over 2 months away, punters – charge those smartphones and tablets of yours as you prepare to carry out some mobile betting on cycling and don’t forget the sun cream in the caravan!