1999 Tour De France - Odds?

[The Barb]

Just curious to know if anyone can remember roughly what the betting markets were before the 1999 TDF ... (who were the favourites and what prices etc).

The Armstrong story is typically told that he came from nowhere to win in one of the biggest surprises ever, but was that really the case or did the pundits and bookmakers give him a reasonable chance (with no Ullrich or Pantani there)?

 

[issoisso]

Just curious to know if anyone can remember roughly what the betting markets were before the 1999 TDF ... (who were the favourites and what prices etc).

The Armstrong story is typically told that he came from nowhere to win in one of the biggest surprises ever, but was that really the case or did the pundits and bookmakers give him a reasonable chance (with no Ullrich or Pantani there)?

If I recall correctly, the only person who mentioned the name Armstrong was Induráin and nobody gave him much credit.

 

[theswordsman]

Google has an advanced search option I discovered recently that lets you find articles from a specific time period. A search of 1999 got me this newspaper article where Lance says he lost muscle mass but not weight from the chemo, but he found losing fifteen pounds of fat down to 160 was easier. He said the Vuelta the year before changed how he looked at three week tours, and that he hoped for a top ten, maybe a top five.

I couldn't find any one elses predictions for him, but most of the articles from that time are pay per view.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...e+armstrong+1999-tour-de-france+preview&hl=en

 

[ak-zaaf]

Zulle was the main favorite I think, maybe Olano, Virenque, Escartin and Tonkov as outsiders.

/Found some comments from Frans Maassen and Erik Breukink who both name Armstrong.

 

[issoisso]

From David McGann:

With Pantani and Ullrich out, the press cast about for a favorite. At the top of a lot of lists were Pavel Tonkov (1996 Giro winner), Alex Zülle, Fernando Escartin and Ivan Gotti (1997 and 1999 Giro winner).

 

[ak-zaaf]

After Passage du Gois you had:
Kirsipuu -
Armstrong +14s
Olano +25s
Tonkov +42s
Julich +42s
Escartin +1m05s
Virenque +1m05s
Zulle +6m24s
Gotti +7m04s

Zulle was 7.37 behind in Paris.

 

[luckyboy]

I was gonna ask this a while ago, but remembered his 4th place in the 08 Vuelta.

 

[Big GMaC]

I was gonna ask this a while ago, but remembered his 4th place in the 08 Vuelta.

Shurely Shome Mishtake?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

My memory is a bit hazy but I'm fairly sure that Armstrong was the headline tip in the Racing Post (daily racing and sports betting paper in the UK) and was a fairly big price (around 20-1 I think).

Unfortunately not a tip I folllowed - I was still following Olano off a cliff in those days

 

[sherer]

after his 4th in the Vuelta I think Velo mag tipped him as an outside bet and top 10 placing.

He wasn't an unknown due to the Vuelta the question was if that was a one off or had he come back a changed rider

 

[El Pistolero]

I placed 10000 bucks that Armstrong would the Tour in 1999.

It's safe to say that I'm richer than Bill Gates now.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

his odds were quite high actually and you didn't get much money from him I think it was x10 which isn't extremely high at all, his myth that he came out of nowhere is also like I said bs! he was 4th in the vuelta the year before and that was after a more than 2 year hiatus.

him winning the tour was also much talked about at least on dutch tv prior to the tour of 1999 and I know that it came as not much of a surprise when he won to most followers. lanc ehimself had frequently stated he was going to win the tour as well and got bruyneel in to help him with it. he meat him at the vuelta 1998

 

[El Pistolero]

his odds were quite high actually and you didn't get much money from him I think it was x10 which isn't extremely high at all, his myth that he came out of nowhere is also like I said bs! he was 4th in the vuelta the year before and that was after a more than 2 year hiatus.

him winning the tour was also much talked about at least on dutch tv prior to the tour of 1999 and I know that it came as not much of a surprise when he won to most followers. lanc ehimself had frequently stated he was going to win the tour as well and got bruyneel in to help him with it. he meat him at the vuelta 1998

I wouldn't even have bet my money on the one that won the Vuelta that year. Seriously, fourth at the Vuelta at a not so young age doesn't make you a likely candidate to win the Tour.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

he was 26 in that vuelta... and considering where he came from it was amazing. he was no doubt a favorite to many in 1999 I remember well in the media. maybe not in france or spain I don;t know

 

[El Pistolero]

he was 26 in that vuelta... and considering where he came from it was amazing. he was no doubt a favorite to many in 1999 I remember well in the media. maybe not in france or spain I don;t know

Showing your first talent in a mountainous stage race/Grand Tour at the age of 26 is not very young unless you had some though luck that you couldn't race due to injuries. And his cancer doesn't count as he has ridden some Tours before his cancer and never showed any real potential of ever winning one in the near future.