2025 London Marathon predictions and betting tips: Tola can triumph over strongest-ever field

Where to watch the London Marathon

BBC One, from 9.25am on Sunday
Women's race 9.25am
Men's race 10am

Best bets

Tamirat Tola to win men's marathon
1pt 3-1 bet365

Tigist Assefa to win women's marathon
1pt 3-1 bet365

London Marathon predictions

There will be plenty of people among the 56,000 entrants in Sunday's London Marathon who will discover there is a big difference between running a half marathon and the full 26.2 miles, and the elite field will all have eyes on whether race favourite Jacob Kiplimo will be one of them.

The Ugandan shook the world of endurance running in February with a blistering 56:41 half in Barcelona and ever since he confirmed he will be at the Blackheath start line, all the questions have centred on whether the debutant can blitz his way from the strongest men's field ever assembled. 

The world cross-country champion could have his work cut out and the strength of the opposition probably means there will be no fairytale fifth London triumph from the greatest of all time, 40-year-old Eliud Kipchoge, who romantics can back at 9-1.

Kipchoge's Kenyan compatriot Sabastian Sawe will have strong claims after running the fifth fastest time in history with 2.02:05 on his debut in Valencia in December, but experience could tell and preference is for Ethiopian Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, who was third in the 2023 race that was won by the late Kelvin Kiptum, who broke the course record.

The Olympic test was probably more taxing than London and Tola has also triumphed at the tougher New York marathon, so this could be his time. Hills go 6-1 that a sub two-hour time is recorded and the course record of 2:01:25 is 6-4 to be broken.

The women's race could turn into a classic duel between Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa.

Hassan's performance in Paris was remarkable after she had claimed bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m on the track before taking to the streets, but Assefa was second on that occasion and would love revenge. She makes more appeal at 2-1, especially as her personal best of 2.11:53 is the second fastest women's marathon time in history.

Scotland's Eilish McColgan makes her debut in the race as does men's Olympian triathlon winner Alex Yee. Both are 66-1 outsiders with bet365.

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.