The UCI World Championships conclude on Sunday in Kigali, Rwanda where Tadej Pogacar is hot favourite to win the Mens Elite Road Race over a marathon 267.5km distance.
Last Sunday's individual time trial saw Belgian Remco Evenepoel retain the title after finishing over a minute in front of runner up Jay Vine. That ws 50 odd minutes of effort against the clock and this is a whole different ball game with 15 laps containing some pretty short but very steep climbs and your fellow countrymen for team mates.
Whilst Evenepoel obviously displayed a liking for Kigali the current Mens Elite Road Race champion Tadej Pogagcar (Slovenia) probably used the ITT as a recon and he is the hot favourite with the bookmakers to win the race at around 5/10 with Evenepoel the second favourite with his odds shortening into around 4/1.
Other Contenders
Isaac Del Toro of Mexico thrilled everyone in this years Giro and is third best on the bookmakers boards at around 8/1 with Britain's Tom Pidcock a 16/1 chance.
Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark) and Juan Ayuso (Spain) are both priced at 20/1 plus and the likes of Ben Healy (Ireland), Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) and Pogacar's team mate Primoz Roglic among others who are deserving of a mention. It doesn't stop there but if the winner is not in the aforementioned and you find him you will be one very happy punter.
The Verdict
Pogacar is an obvious choice but offers little to no betting value. I'll instead for a podium finisher and Ben Healy gets my vote to stake a claim.
Healy was a stage winner at the TdF this year and also had a second and third place on other tough stages and he returned from a break with a decent second placing in the final stage of the recent Tour of Luxembourg
Healy will no doubt be “freelancing” to a large degree when the race really catches light but I'm banking on his undoubted talent and huge heart to keep him in the mix for a medal.
Bet: Top 3 Finish Ben Healy at 6/1 with Betway
Prices subject to change