Details: Published on Saturday, 22 August 2015 13:00

Vuelta a Espana Other Markets

A selection of other random bets that caught my eye.

Here's a selection of other bets that caught my eye for the Vuelta, there's not as many bets available as in the Tour de France but there's still a few of interest.

Top 3 On General Classification

Of course there is no great amount of value out there as the bookies are operating to their usual scandalously high over-round, and it does turn in to a bit of a lottery with the possibility that something could happen to the four most likely podium candidates at very short odds.

Nairo Quintana at 4/9? It's almost certain, but no thanks, he could do like he did last year and crash out. Chris Froome at odds-on? I'd rather be a layer at that price and in fact I am trying to lay him in the Betfair Top 3 market. Fabio Aru at 6/5? Again a risky bet as anything could happen with him and he is likely to lose buckets of time in the time trial towards the end. Alejandro Valverde looks like the most likely chance of landing a Top 3 bet, and the evens is looking a bit tempting, but the 5/4 on Betfair was even better so I took 2pts of that to start with.

Of the others? Not a lot really appeal to me, I don't think Nibali or Rodriguez will finish in the top 3 but the 6/1 on Pozzovivo looks big - he is only 3/1 with most of the others. That's worth a point I think as I think he could go well and will be fresher than a lot of the guys who did the TDF.

And just for a wild shot, the 75/1 on Rodolfo Torres to finish on the podium is a fun bet I'm going to place, it's worth a small interest, he's only 20/1 with Bet365 - 0.2pts at 75/1 with 888Sport. If you don't have an 888 account, Corals' 50/1 is acceptable too.

Top 10 Finish

None of the top guys in the betting appeal at the short odds-on they are, but Tejay Van Garderen looks like a bet at 11/10 to me. I was tempted by the 12/1 for the top 3 on him but I'm afraid he might be a 3rd to 10th place kind of guy - he was going really well in the Tour and the TT should help him a lot. He has a strong team here with him and I think he will want to make a statement before the end of the season with Richie Porte coming in to the squad next year. 2pts at 11/10 with Bet365.

Joe Dombrowski is going to be interesting to watch, I'm almost tempted by the 4/1 on him, but instead I'm going to plump for the old boy Frank Schleck at 3/1. Schleck was going well in the Tour of Utah, finishing 4th overall and taking a 4th, 6th and 8th place on stages. He's a wily old boy who has finished 3rd and 4th in the Tour de France so knows what to takes to last a Grand Tour. He should be the team leader in that team, aided by Zubeldia, Zoidl and Irizar and a top 10 is possibly a better than 3/1 shot.

Others at odds-against who could push in to the top 10 are Henao at 7/4, Chaves at 4/1, Dan Martin at 9/2 or Torres at 5/1.

Over/Under Stage Wins

Paddy Power have this market, and it's basically whether a rider will win, or not win a stage during the Vuelta. Of course the value is awful, you'd be better off backing some of your fancies for the stages they are particularly suited to at far higher odds, but there are a few bets of interest.

Pierre Rolland - no stage wins - 2/5 - this is an almost certain bet I think, can't see him winning a stage. 5pts at 2/5

Vincenzo Nibali - no stage wins - 4/7 - I don't know if Nibali will be so hot in this race, I think he might struggle on some of the harder, steeper climbs. I think he may struggle to land a stage win in such a hard Vuelta this year. 3.5pts at 4/7

Daniel Martin - over 0.5 stage wins - I think Martin will love quite a few of these stages and should come here in good form after a mixed Tour for him. He should have a chance on some of steep uphill finishes in the first two weeks and if he slides down the GC for whatever reason he will be able to go on long-range attacks from which he could take a stage victory. 2pts at 7/4 with PP

Why not post some bets you have spotted below in the comments and we can use this page as a forum for discussing bets and opportunities?

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