Tour de France: King of the Mountains predictions and free tips

Best bets

Romain Bardet
1pt 9-1 general

Adam Yates
1pt 20-1 Betfred

Analysis

The King of the Mountains competition is always one of the toughest to predict heading into the Tour de France and there are plenty of candidates to wear the polka dots in 2020.

Recent winners have tended to be general classification contenders who have failed to find their form and have had to reassess their ambitions.

That was the case in 2019 as Romain Bardet rode away with the prize and he is in good form after finishing sixth at the recent Criterium du Dauphine.

The AG2R-La Mondiale rider may have relinquished his status as the darling of the French public to FDJ-Groupama's Thibaut Pinot but releasing the shackles clearly benefited him last year.

Bardet had planned to target the Giro d'Italia but has switched his sights to the Tour and has said that stages, rather than aiming for a third podium finish, will be his priority.

The 2020 route is designed for climbers and the 29-year-old will have Pierre Latour and Alexis Vuillermoz, both of whom may also be hunting stages, ready to provide support.

A rider in a similar vein to Bardet is Adam Yates. The Mitchelton-Scott man is another hunting stage wins this year after seemingly giving up on his GC hopes.

Yates finished fourth on his way to winning the young rider classification in 2016 but is still to top that achievement. While his twin brother Simon has the 2018 Vuelta a Espana on his Palmarès, Adam seems more set on week-long races and Grand Tour stages.

A strong climber and demon descender, look for him to pop up on a route that features eight mountain-top finishes.

Arkea-Samsic pair Nairo Quintana and Warren Barguil are both previous winners of the polka-dot jersey and worthy of consideration.

Being a Pro-Conti squad, Arkea-Samsic's sponsors will be hoping for some TV time to boost visibility and that could favour both.

Quintana joined over the winter following a disastrous few years battling for the leadership at Movistar. Uncertainty remains as to his ability to race for three weeks, with his last Grand Tour success coming in 2016, and like in recent editions, he may lose enough time early to be allowed some freedom.

His colleague Barguil lit up the 2017 Tour, winning two stages on his way to the polka-dot jersey and may feel he has a point to prove.

The 28-year-old Breton finished tenth last year and having been displaced as the leader on what is essentially his local team, will look to feature.

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