Wiggins spill underlines perils of cycling wagers

SPORTS BETTING:

BRADLEY Wiggins came a cropper in the Tour De France yesterday, but remained in second place going into today’s stage.

Traffic problems underline just how dangerous betting on cycling is: I would be in no hurry to take the 11-8 about our man winning Le Tour. All it takes is for a rider in front of you to fall: the accident could end your race.

That said, Wiggins is the best rider in the tour on current form and deserves to be favourite ahead of last year’s winner Cadel Evans (11-5).



WIMBLEDON has reached the nitty gritty and Our Man Murray is 11-2 to win the title.

But Novak Djokovic looks a certainty to me. I wish I had had the courage to bet big at his pre-tournament price of 13-8. He is 8-13 now!

Federer is 6-1, but neither he nor Murray appear to have the ammunition to stop the Djokovic juggernaut from rolling towards another title.

Murray was playing Spain’s David Ferrer today and was a 4-9 shot to turn the tables on the man who dumped him out of the French Open.



BRAZIL are 7-2 favourites to win the 2014 World Cup on home soil despite the continued footballing dominance of Spain. The Spaniards retained their European title with a 4-0 defeat of Italy, but can be backed at 11-2 to successfully defend the World Cup.

Argentina are next best at 6-1, followed by Germany at 8s. England are 20-1 to lift the trophy - don’t make me laugh - and 7-1 ON to qualify.



OUR cricketers are much better than our footballers and held a 2-0 lead over Australia going into today’s third ODI.

So why they were available at evens with the Aussies odds-on at 20-21 is anybody’s guess.

Looking ahead to the three-Test series against South Africa, England are 5-4 favourites to come out on top with the Proteas 15-8 and the draw 3-1. More of that blockbuster series nearer the time.



SILVERSTONE hosts the British Grand Prix on Sunday and the bookies expect it to be a three-driver shoot-out.World champion Sebastian Vettel is 3-1 favourite, with Lewis Hamilton 4-1 and Fernando Alonso 11-2. It’s 12-1 bar this trio, but this topsy-turvy season could easily provide anothersurprise.








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