A Wonderful Sporting Month in July? You Can Bet on It!
Author:
Roy Brindley
There is a great month ahead for armchair sports fans. The action begins on the first day of July when the 2023 Tour de France gets underway on Saturday. The 110th edition of the race starts in the biggest city in the Basque Country, Bilbao. This year, the Tour features 21 stages and measures 3,404 kilometers.
There is only one time-trial in the race. Eight stages are flat, four are hilly, and eight others are mountainous. Mountain stages with summit finishes are always a fan favorite. In 2023 there are four of these: Cauterets-Cambasque (stage 6), Puy de D?me (stage 9), Grand Colombier (stage 13) and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc (stage 15).
The Tour de France is just one of many outstanding sporting events taking place in July? ?GettyImages
Poga?ar Meets Vingegaard in Tour Round Three
In 2021 the defending champion, Tadej Poga?ar, beat Jonas Vingegaard by a five-minute margin. Last year, Vingegaard reversed the placings to take the title by almost three minutes. In 2023, they will start the race as 11/10 joint favorites.
Surprisingly, there is no place in the Tour for Ireland’s Sam Bennett or four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. British interest rests with Tom Pidcock – winner of the famous Alpe d’Huez stage in last year’s tour – Poga?ar’s teammate Adam Yates, his twin brother, Simon Yates, and Mark Cavendish.
Cavendish needs just one more stage win to break cycling legend Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 stage victories. The ‘Manx Missile’ retires at the end of the season, and the novelty betting sites offer odds of just 12/1 about him winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award at the end of 2023.
Four F1 Races for July
July is also a hectic time for Formula 1. There are no fewer than four European Grand Prix scheduled for the month. The first is this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix follows a week later. July 23rd and July 30th are the dates set aside for the Hungarian and Belgian races.
Max Verstappen has dominated the sport in 2023. The Red Bull driver has won six of the eight races and finished second in the other pair. The Dutchman is 2/7 to win his team’s home race this Sunday. Lewis Hamilton is 8/1 in the early betting for the British Grand Prix. He has won the contest eight times in the past.
Britain’s Slim Wimbledon Chances
Wimbledon begins on July 3rd and ends on July 16th. As its ￡44.7 million in prizemoney suggests, few sporting events compare with the 146-year-old event. Novak Djokovic is 8/11 to make it three Grand Slam victories in a row. He has lost just twice at the All-England Club in the last decade. However, it is Carlos Alcaraz – 7/2 to win the Wimbledon title – that heads the world rankings.
British hopes lay with Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie. The best tennis betting sites have this pair priced on 66/1 and 100/1 respectively. In the women’s game, new British number one Katie Boulter leads the domestic challenge in the absence of Emma Raducanu. She is priced on a dismissive 200/1. It is Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka that share favoritism on odds of 4/1.
Can Lionesses Bring Home the Cup?
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will begin four days after Wimbledon concludes. The opening match will be contested between New Zealand and Norway. The World Cup final takes place on 20 August 2023 at Sydney Olympic Stadium in Australia.
Football betting sites rate the United States – winners of the two previous World Cups – at 5/2 to successfully defend its title. England, who play in Group-D of the event – consisting of Haiti, Denmark and China – are 9/2 in the outright betting. The team’s first game is on July 22nd in Brisbane’s Lang Park. Sarina Wiegman’s side is 1/33 to make a winning start against Haiti.
Brecel and MVG the Ones to Beat?
Snooker’s 2023/24 season started at the end of June with the curtain-raising Championship League. One of 16 ranking events staged throughout the season, the format for this event is complex with players placed in 32 groups or four players during the first phase of proceedings.
Ultimately, after four stages of the competition, the final is scheduled for July 21st at Leicester’s Morningside Arena. At the outset, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump headed the betting at 15/2. It was the future world champion, Luca Brecel that won the event 12 months ago. The Belgian is 8/1 to retain his world title at the season’s end next April.
Former World Snooker Championship sponsor, Betfred, has put its name to the World Matchplay Darts tournament played in Blackpool between July 15th-23rd. This is one of the few darts competitions that has not been dominated by Michael van Gerwen.
Six individual players have won the last six editions of this tournament. Nevertheless, with his record in Sky televised events, and the 2023 Premier League trophy on his mantlepiece, the Dutchman will take plenty of beating.
Cricket and Horses Put to the Test
The 2023 Ashes has not started well for England, but there are four more Tests for the hosts to make amends. The second Test will conclude on July 2nd. The next three Test matches, scheduled for four days, will begin on July 6th, 19th and 27th. Australia is 1/2 to win the series.
Horse racing’s Glorious Goodwood does not begin until August 1st, but there is plenty of Group-1 action beforehand. At 7/4, Emily Upjohn is the early betting favorite for the Coral Eclipse. It takes place at Sandown on July 8th.
Milers and Sprinters have their place in the spotlight at Newmarket a week later when the Falmouth Stakes and July Cup are scheduled. The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes – Britain’s most prestigious open-age flat race – takes place at Ascot on July 29th. Impressive Derby winner, Auguste Rodin is amongst the potential runners.
