Pre-race Favourites
Because Astana was not invited to the 2008 Tour de France, the winner of the 2007 Tour de France, Alberto Contador, the 3rd place finisher Levi Leipheimer and the 2004 and 2006 Tour de France runner up Andreas Klöden did not compete. Ten days before the start of the tour, Contador picked Cadel Evans as the likely winner for 2008. Shown in the table below are the riders that, according to the bookmakers in the months before the start of the 2008 Tour de France, had a chance of winning the 2008 Tour better than or equal to 25/1. The odds shown are the odds in July 2008, directly before the start of the race. Thomas Dekker and Michael Rogers were also given odds in this range, but were not included in the Tour de France.
| Rider | Team | Notes | Decimal Odds July 2008 |
Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadel Evans | Silence-Lotto | 2nd place 2007 Tour de France | 3.25 | 022nd (+ 58") |
| Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | 6th place 2007 Tour de France | 4.50 | 099th (+ 7' 12") |
| Denis Menchov | Rabobank | 5th place in 2006 Tour de France | 7.00 | 044th (+ 2' 10") |
| Carlos Sastre | Team CSC Saxo Bank | 4th place in 2007 Tour de France | 11.00 | 011st (87h 52' 52") |
| Damiano Cunego | Lampre | Best young rider 2006 Tour de France | 11.00 | 96 |
| Andy Schleck | Team CSC Saxo Bank | 2nd place 2007 Giro d'Italia | 13.00 | 1212th (+ 11' 32") |
| Roman Kreuziger | Liquigas | 1st 2008 Tour de Suisse | 21.00 | 1313th (+ 12' 59") |
| Mauricio Soler | Barloworld | King of Mountains 2007 Tour de France | 26.00 | 99 |
| Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 3rd place 2007 Vuelta a España | 26.00 | 077th (+ 6' 25") |
| Stijn Devolder | Quick Step | Winner 2008 Ronde Van Vlaanderen | 26.00 | 97 |
| Haimar Zubeldia | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 5th in 2007 Tour de France | 26.00 | 4545th (+ 1h 27' 00") |
| Kim Kirchen | Team Columbia | 7th place 2007 Tour de France | 34.00 | 088th (+ 6' 55") |
| Riccardo Riccò | Saunier Duval-Scott | 2nd place 2008 Giro d'Italia | 34.00 | 98 |
| Did not finish |
| Finished in Top 5 |
Read more about this topic: 2008 Tour De France