Spain Tour at SBG Global Sports Betting. Find bicycle racing lines and bicycle betting odds 24/7 and start betting on Tour of Spain. The Tour of Spain betting, also known as the Vuelta a España bicycle race will get underway September 1st and run through September 23rd. Cycling betting fans should know there are 11 flat stages and 8 mountain stages in the bicycle race. A total of 42 climbs are scattered along the bicycle race route. Three are Special Category, six are first category, 15 are second category and 18 are third category. There are also two time trials.
The first of these comes on day eight while the second takes place on the final day. The 2007 Vuelta bicycle race will include nine towns which are hosting a stage start for the first time. The total distance of the bicycle race is approximately 3,241 kilometers. It is a total of 23 days in length, although two of these are rest days. The finish is traditionally held in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The overall bicycle race leader wears the ‘Jersey de Oro’ (a Golden Jersey). It is the Spanish equivalent of the yellow jersey used in the Tour de France bicycle race.
The Tour of Spain betting was first held in 1935 and has been run annually since 1955. The first bicycle race saw 50 pro cycling entrants. The record for most wins is held by Switzerland’s Tony Rominger and Hoberto Heras. It was Heras that won in 2000, 2003 and 2004. He also won in 2005 but was disqualified for a doping offense. Spaniards have won 26 of the 57 runnings of the Vuelta.
Pro cycling riders have said that the 2007 bicycle race may be slightly easier than the 2006 race. It is different though because many of the hardest stages are early with three summit finishes the first ten days. The route settles down after that but gets interesting at the end. Cycling betting fans should know that for the first time in 10 years the bicycle race will start in the region of Galicia with a flat stage for the pro cycling riders. It is also an unusual Vuelta because the first summit finish will come on the fourth day, with a stage ending at the top of Lagos de Covadonga.
Cycling betting fans want to be aware that the Astana pro cycling team has been barred from this year’s Tour of Spain bicycle race after recent failed doping tests by three of their riders. Germany’s Matthias Kessler tested positive for testosterone before this year’s Tour de France while Kazakh riders Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin failed tests for blood transfusions. Cycling betting fans know that Vinokourov won last year’s Tour of Spain and Kashechkin finished third behind Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.