Froome pulling away
The Tour de France held its second rest day on Tuesday, but five big stages remain before a winner is decided. Here is a look at the latest odds.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Chris Froome is the clear favorite to win, as he has odds of -1600 to prevail. Orth short odds are Nairo Quintana (+1400) and Bauke Mollema (+2000). Stage 17 of the Tour takes place on Wednesday. It is a 114-mile high mountain stage that runs from Berne to Finhaut-Emosson.
Stage 16 on Monday saw Peter Sagan of Slovakia pick up a win, finishing just ahead of a large pack. His time was 4:26:02. Froome continued to sit in the lead thanks to a 14th-place finish on Monday. Froome is in first overall with a time of 72:40:38. He is 1:47 ahead of Mollema, who is in second. Quintana is in fourth place right now at 2:59 back of first.
There was some news on Tuesday as Britain’s Mark Cavendish withdrew from the final week of competition in order to improve his chances at winning a medal at next month’s Olympics. Cavendish had won four stages during this year’s Tour de France, including the first stage. However, fatigue was building in for Cavendish, who wasn’t contending for the overall title.