Tour De France Stage 15 predictions, betting tips, odds and free bets (July 17, 2016)

Monday, 18 July 2016 00:30
Written by David Bet

Stage 15 of Tour de France on Sunday is a 160 km journey from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz featuring six clims, including a double ascent of the Grand Colombier. Read here our Tour De France STAGE 15 betting preview, with expert picks, best odds, free predictions on Winner and Head to Head, betting offers & no deposit free bets on the Grand Boucle!

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TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 15 BETTING PREVIEW

In the first half of the stage, riders will climbe Cold du Berthiand (6 km at 8/1%), Col du Sappel (8,8 km at 5,6%), Col de Pisseloup (4,9 km at 5,8%) and Col de la Rochette (5,1 km at 5,4%). The penultimate climb goes to the very summit of the Grand Colombier (12.8 km at 6.8%) but it's the descent which could be even more crucial. Then, the race hits a 24km finishing circuit when it enters Culoz, including the final climb, dubbed the Lacets du Grand Colombier (8.4 km at 7.6%). After that, a short and fast descent and 8 flat kilometres until the finish line in Culoz. Anyway, those six categorised ascents don't tell the whole story: there are numerous lumps and bumps in-between .

Chris Froome is in better form that anyone else in the race and could well launch another daring attack. Anyway, the Brit has admitted he will ride on the defensive on the Tour de France's five remaining mountain stages. We expect a winning breakaway, so we are ruling out the GC contenders for the stage win.

As consequence, the likes of Bauke Mollema, Adam Yates and Nairo Quintana will be controlled by team Sky and will not be allowed to attack. Anyway, we expect the Colombian to give it a go. He is running out of opportunities and he is so far back that he has to grab every opportunity.

Richie Porte often struggles on high mountain stages and could have his bad day while Daniel Martin have lost ground in the Individual Time Trial and may be given a license to attack for the victory.

Romain Bardet struggled on the time trial but the Frenchman is still battling for the podium and he could attack on descents due to his amazing skills.

Alejandro Valverde, Vincenzo Nibali and Rui Costa can all climb with the best on the first 4 ascents and are well known for their descending capabilities. If Nibali feels capable of helping Fabio Aru during the stage, a rider like Tanel Kangert could have freedom to try and give Astana something to celebrate in this tour.

With no Alberto Contador to worry about, Rafal Majka will likely be thinking about a stage win while Thomas De Gendt is expected to escape in what will probably end up as quite a large breakaway since there are a lot of Polka-Dot Jersey points up for grabs.

Jarlinson Pantano is a great descender and he is one of the riders out of GC contention that is capable of doing well in the mountains. Damiano Caruso already tried to attack in the Arcalis stage and he was in the break on stage 10 so he seems to have the freedom. He is climbing really well and he is very fast in a sprint. Ruben Plaza has been very disappointing so far and he will do something good sooner or later.

Ilnur Zakarin, Tom Domoulin and Warren Barguil are other riders expected to go on the breakaway if the peloton allowed them to escape.

Tour De France 2016 - Stage 15