Tour de France stage 16 predictions and cycling betting tips: Pogacar can land the first blow in final week

Where to watch Tour de France stage 16

ITV4 & Eurosport 1, 11am Tuesday

Best bet

Tadej Pogacar to win stage 16
1pt 5-4 general

Tour de France stage 16 predictions

The general classification battle at the 110th Tour de France has long looked to be a match between two-time winner Tadej Pogacar and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and the two heavyweights will begin the third and final week of racing by locking horns in a 22.4km individual time trial.

A three-day battle in the Alps ended on Sunday with the big two crossing the line together at the summit of Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, meaning that Vingegaard went into Monday's rest day with a narrow ten-second lead over his great rival.

The Dane remains the marginal favourite to claim the general classification for a second straight edition of Le Tour but Pogacar leads the market for Stage 16, the only time trial on the 2023 route and one which looks to play to the strengths of the brilliant Slovene.

Pogacar famously stole the 2020 edition of the race in a time trial on La Planche des Belles Filles, overhauling Primoz Roglic's commanding lead on a similarly short, steep climb, and it would be no surprise if he were to inflict something similar on another Jumbo-Visma rider.

The GC favourites are followed in the stage betting by Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert, and while the brilliant Belgian is not without a chance of winning a tenth Tour de France stage, he might struggle to sustain his effort on the Cote de Domancy, which features an average gradient of 9.4 per cent.

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