Giro d'Italia betting tips: Preview and best bets for cycling Grand Tour

Cycling betting tips: Giro d'Italia

3pts Primoz Roglic to win the Giro d’Italia at 9/4 (Coral, Ladbrokes)

2pts Jack Haig to win an individual stage at 4/1 (Unibet, Sky Bet)

2pts Hugh Carthy to win an individual stage at 9/4 (bet365)

1pt e.w. Lorenzo Fortunato to win King of the Mountains at 14/1 (BoyleSports 1/5 1,2,3,4)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

After a fantastic set of spring Classics, we head into the first Grand Tour of the year in Italy for the Giro d’Italia and what promises to be three weeks of non-stop drama, with the riders fighting it out for the coveted Maglia Rosa.

This year’s race marks the 106th edition of the Giro and standing in the way of the riders are 21 stages totalling to 3489.2 kilometres and 51,400 metres of total climbing. There are three individual time trials combining to a total of 73.3 km, five hilly stages, five mountain stages and eight flat stages. Those which should prove decisive come towards the end of the race with stages 13, 16, 19 and 20 set to shape the race.

Belgian sensation Remco Evenepoel heads the betting as the odds-on favourite and rightly so. The 23-year-old is heading to the Giro on the back of winning his first Grand Tour late last year at La Vuelta a Espana and started this one in good form, cruising to victory in February before finishing second at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and then putting on an emphatic performance to retain his Liege-Bastogne-Liege crown.

He looks to be in great shape to win the Giro D’Italia at the second time of asking and is a worthy favourite, but there are slight question marks over his support team with this Giro being harder than last year’s La Vuelta a Espana, especially in the third and final week.

Evenepoel should make time in the first two time trials but he might just crack in the mountains. He is yet to be tested as much as this Giro will test him and much may depend on how much credit he can bank in those time-trials. From a punting perspective he makes limited appeal for a three-week race as no matter how good they look, grand tours are different.

INEOS Grenadiers will once again show the strong squad depth they have in this year’s edition. Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and 2020 Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart lead the team roster along with eye-catching new signing Thymen Arensman and key domestique Pavel Sivakov.

The bigg question is just who will they be riding for? Thomas seemed to be the intended leader at the start of the year although Geoghegan Hart’s 2023 performances may say otherwise, with strong runs in Volta a la Communitat Valenciana and Tirreno-Adriatico before going onto win two stages at the Tour of the Alps and take overall victory in the General Classification.

Opening at 33/1, it’s no surprise to see the 2020 champion has been backed into 12/1 off the back of the Tour of the Alps, but we'll see just how long either Thomas and Geoghegan Hart can stay with Evenepoel and PRIMOZ ROGLIC.

• CLICK HERE to back Roglic with Sky Bet

I wouldn’t rule either rider out to fill the last podium place and based on this year’s form you’d have to say Geoghegan Hart, without underestimating Thomas's class and experience.

Roglic is the second favourite in the betting and makes most appeal at the prices.

The three-time La Vuelta a Espana champion is looking for his first Maglia Rosa after finishing third back in 2019. He has looked impressive in his limited racing this year, winning both Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, beating this year's Giro favourite Evenepoel at the latter.

Roglic has an astounding record in time trials at the Giro, with his form reading 2-2-1-1-10 across the two he’s competed in.

It’s a race that Jumbo-Visma have been vocal about in wanting to win and with a strong support team I think they can do just that. Their man won’t lose as much time as other General Classification riders in the time trials which will leave him in a good position to pick his moments in the mountains to launch attacks.

Roglic will be after redemption after crashing out of last year’s La Vuelta a Espana on Stage 17 when only second to eventual winner Evenepoel and at the prices he's preferred. Three time trials can provide the backbone of his bid and he's value to topple the favourite.

Stage set for Haig

Bahrain–Victorious rider JACK HAIG looks to be back near to his best form after missing the second half of last year season having fractured his wrist at Stage 5 of the Tour de France.

• CLICK HERE to back Haig with Sky Bet

After a quiet start to his 2023 campaign, the Australian rider was starting to look like his former self and prior to the Tour of the Alps he completed altitude training, which looked to have done him the world of good as he finished third in the General Classification behind 2020 Giro d’Italia winner Geoghegan Hart in the Alps.

Haig looked strong in the saddle in the mountains and looks to be peaking in time for the Giro and it’s a race Bahrain – Victorious have enjoyed success in. With the strong depth and experience in this Bahrain-Victorious team Haig will have the support he needs to land his first Grand Tour stage win.

Another rider who is looking in good shape to achieving an individual stage win is our very own Lancashire-born HUGH CARTHY.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider has gone close in the past few years and can gain his first Giro d’Italia and second Grand Tour stage victory.

After putting in a fine performance by finishing second at the Tour of the Alps behind Geoghegan Hart, Carthy looks to be hitting his best form at the right time. Stages 13, 16, 18 and 19 look ideal for Carthy and he's worth backing along with Haig to pick up a win at some point.

Finally, Italian rider LORENZO FORTUNATO looks to be in a strong position to reign in the mountains after finishing fifth overall in Tour of the Alps behind Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Haig, Carthy and Geoghegan Hart.

• CLICK HERE to back Fortunato with Sky Bet

Team EOLO-Kometa will look to send Fortunato into the break early on across multiple stages to gain as many King of the Mountain points as he can. He showed that he can climb with the best of them in Tour of the Alps, looking comfortable with the more established riders, and having already won a Giro d’Italia stage back in 2021 on a mountain top finish to Monte Zoncolan, he is certainly a rider to keep an eye on.

At 14/1, Fortunato looks good each-way value to be the King of the Mountains in what promises to be a fantastic renewal of the Giro, live from Saturday on Eurosport.

Posted at 1730 BST on 02/05/23

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