Sagan each-way better Olympic bet than Cavendish for Road Race

There is no doubt that if Team Sky can ensure that the men’s cycling Olympic Road Race turns into a sprint finish, then punters who have backed Mark Cavendish at 1/1 to claim gold can expect to secure some profit.

However, although Cavendish is supported by the strongest team, there is no guarantee that the race will pan out this way.

Cavendish had the benefit of seven aids when securing World Championship gold, but he will only be able to call upon four allies this time to help keep him in the leading pack.

The other factor is that Box Hill will have to be climbed on nine occasions and even though this is an area where Cavendish has improved, there remains the possibility that a cyclist could attempt to break away here.

Peter Sagan is one of the cyclists that is arguably most likely to instigate some type of break away and if he can pull this off, he would appear a shoo-in for a medal and probably gold.

Sagan is 11/2 in the Olympics odds to win the Road Race and brings impressive form with him to London, having triumphed in three stages at the Tour De France en route to an emphatic Green Jersey success.

Meanwhile, the tactics of Team Sky are successful and the pack remains together for a sprint, Sagan would still have high hopes of securing a medal, even if not managing to live with the speed of Cavendish.

Therefore, whichever way the race goes, Sagan has medal prospects, unlike Cavendish, and so an each-way bet on him looks almost like a no-brainer.

Punters wanting some bigger value could do worse than consider Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez at 33/1.

He would arguably be the most likely of the Spanish contingent to attempt to steal victory with a break-away effort as he did when landing a stage at the Tour De France.

Sanchez will enjoy the repeat climbs more than most and is solely worth backing to win as a break away looks his only real chance of victory.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.