To celebrate 100 years of the yellow jersey and 50 years since Eddy Merckx's first victory, the 2019 Tour de France will depart from the Belgian capital of Brussels on Saturday 6th July. Cycling, by its nature, is wholly unpredictable and often produces more surprises than expected outcomes, as Richard Carapaz's recent Giro d'Italia victory showed us.
At times, betting on cycling seems to be as certain as opting for the zero on a casino roulette wheel. However, unlike other sports, betting on cycling can be a quite fruitful venture (unless you are Cyclist big boss Pete Muir).
Whereas sports like horse racing and football have hoards and hoards of experts placing many outcomes into algorithms to make the perfect price, odds for cycling seem sometimes to have been plucked from thin air.
Interesting prices in the cycling betting-sphere can be pretty common.
For example, Vasil Kiryienka was at 50/1 before his individual time trial victory at the 2015 World Championships, a price that would be deemed immediately too high to anyone who follows the sport.
Obviously, nothing is guaranteed but us cycling fans can usually hazard a pretty sound guess at who will do well and who will not.
So considering I could probably call myself an expert - at a push - on cycling and considering the bookmakers are as accurate at producing their odds as Carlton Kirby is at calling a sprint finish, I have compiled some of the most eye-catching odds currently available for the Tour and the reason why you should be tempted to back them.
...and it was called 'Yellow'
Rewind a week and there was only one outright favourite for this year's Grand Boucle, Chris Froome. Most bookmakers had already crowned the 34-year-old with a record-equalling fifth title as he sat at an incredible 2/1 across the board.
Fast forward a week and Froome is currently recovering in a French hospital from a barrage of broken bones contemplating the distinct possibility that he may never contest a Grand Tour again.
While this is not good news for Froomites, it does mean that we should be in store for one of the most open and unpredictable Tour de France battles for almost a decade.
Taking Froome's place as the favourite is teammate and defending champion Geraint Thomas, who is now priced at 7/4 (William Hill).
You would assume that Thomas was preparing to defend his title but, until last week, I got the distinct idea that the Welshman had resigned himself to domestique duties for Froome.
That's all changed now and Thomas is the unchallenged leader yet you feel he may be lacking what it takes to secure a second consecutive yellow jersey.
Plus Thomas is currently riding the Tour de Suisse and history tells us that Tour de France winners seldom come from that race, rather the Criterium du Dauphine.
The bookies' second favourite is so young he was born after Take That had split up in 1996. That's Egan Bernal. The young Colombian is a future Tour winner it's just a matter of when and some bookies reckon it could be this summer.
Find him at 5/1 (Unibet) for a best price.
Dauphine winner Jakob Fuglsang is the third favourite to win the Tour and after a dominant Ardennes campaign, including Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory - he probably deserves such recognition.
Yet, the Astana man has only ever managed one Grand Tour top 10 and routinely struggles to piece together three weeks of consistent racing, making his 6/1 (Paddy Power) price not worth much.
You can pick up Tom Dumoulin at 7/1 (Coral), which is a smart move if he can correct that knee injury, as he is as capable as anyone at winning Grand Tours, in my opinion.
Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates would have been a good wager at 14/1 (Betway) although abandoning the Dauphine through illness is never a good sign.
The Movistar duo of Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa offer some value at 16/1 (Betway) and 22/1 (William Hill) respectively.
Landa, especially, could be worth an each-way punt at that price. He has proven before that he can ride back-to-back Grand Tours and secure high placings on General Classification.
Romain Bardet would have been worth a flutter at 33/1 (Paddy Power) but was found lacking watts at the recent Mont Ventoux one-day race as Thibaut Pinot seems a more viable French hope at 22/1 (William Hill).
Former podium finisher Rigoberto Uran could prove lightning strikes twice and at 50/1 (Ladbrokes) is not the worst choice for an each-way bet, while teammate Tejay Van Garderen's price of 250/1 (Betfred) is definitely worth at least a quid.
The real value for the cycling betting community, however, lies in the hopes of two outsiders, Emmanuel Buchmann and Wout Poels.
Buchmann recently finished on the podium at the Dauphine, continuing a season of good stage race form. At 150/1 (Betway), an each-way punt for the German to reach the podium could be a shrewd bet.
As for Poels, he will surely be allowed some slack now Froome is out, right? Either way, at 33/1 (Ladbrokes) you could back a worse horse, that's for sure.
Cyclist takes no responsibility for bets placed or resulting losses. Always remember to gamble responsibly. When the fun stops, stop.