Today’s Sports Betting Preview – By Rick Elliott

Froome Can Win His Fifth Tour de France

Francesco Molinari became the first player from Italy to win a major championship in the Open on Sunday and Geraint Thomas could become the first cyclist from Wales to win the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins won the race in 2012 to record the first British win and riders from the UK have won five of the last six races.

Chris Froome is a four times winner and he is second behind Thomas in the General Classification. The Tour is in the mountains for the next four stages and then there is a Time Trial. Racing conditions will suit FROOME so he can win the most famous bike race in the world for the fifth time and that outcome is 11/8 with Ladbrokes.

Football is now a 12 month sport and qualifying for the Champions League had begun before the final of the World Cup. It was a good tournament for England and a place in the final was there for the taking. Ultimately Croatia were the better team in the semi-final and Belgium beat England in the 3rd/4th place match. France got better as the tournament progressed and they were worthy winners of the World Cup.

The next two year cycle begins with qualifying for the next European Championships. The semi-finals and final are being played at Wembley and home advantage can help England. However, FRANCE are young and good enough to win win Euro 2020 at 4/1 with William Hill.

There are two major racing festivals next week and it’s the King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. The Galway Festival and Glorious Goodwood are like chalk and cheese when it comes to racing occasions. At the end of the day both meetings are about betting and the racing despite the contrasting locations. Betting turnover is huge at both tracks and off-course.

Racing at the top level is in good order but the bread and butter stuff offers poor levels of prize money. Chelmsford is the most lucrative meeting today and the richest race is the handicap over six furlongs at 7.10pm. CENTOTAPH has won over the course and distance and is the horse to back at 2/1 with Coral.