Matthews blown away as Kittel keeps green jersey at Le Tour

MARCEL Kittel strengthened his grip on the Tour de France green jersey on Tuesday night with a powerful victory on stage 10.

The German now has four stage wins to his name and holds a commanding lead in the points classification.

Online bookmaker CrownBet.com.au has brought him into -666.67 to take out the sprinters’ title, but Kittel knows a lot could happen between Eymet and the finish line in Paris.

“It’s by far not decided,” the Quick-Step star told reporters.

“I personally like to act like I don’t have green on my shoulders because you saw a couple of days ago with the GC guys the race can very quickly be over.

“I almost can’t believe what is happening. It’s great to see how strong the team is.

“I won now so many stages in the Tour. I never expected it when I was starting my career.

“I never really expected to be even in the Tour. I was hoping maybe at one point to become a professional, but that I would be at this level with these wins, it’s hard for me to imagine.”

It was a far less fruitful stage for Michael Matthews, whose green jersey hopes are hanging by a thread.

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— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 11, 2017

The Australian rider was blown away on the finish into Bergerac, crossing the line in 13th place as Kittel extended his lead to 102 points.

Visibly upset afterwards, the Team Sunweb sprinter admitted he and his crew might have to prioritise stage wins over the intermediate sprints going forward.

“My (mojo) is totally there, but there was a miscommunication with the leadout train today,” Matthews said.

“We weren’t where we said we wanted to be in the meeting and it left me with a long sprint to try and even get into the top 15 to even get any points.

“We’ve been going quite well, but today was really one of the days where we needed to nail it and we didn’t.”

Even after that slip, the bookies rate Matthews (+500) as the only rider with a realistic chance of catching Kittel.

Green jersey outright betting

-666.67 – Marcel Kittel

+500 – Michael Matthews

+3300 – Andre Greipel, Alexander Kristoff

+10000 – Edvald Boasson Hagen

More quoted at CrownBet.com.au

‘Relaxed’ Froome coasting towards yellow jersey

Chris Froome was as thankful as anyone that Monday’s rest period came when it did.

The Tour descended into chaos on Sunday as Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas and yellow jersey contender Richie Porte crashed out in spectacular fashion on stage nine.

Things were much more sedate on the 178km trek to Bergerac as Froome maintained his 18-second overall lead without a hint of drama.

“It was a quiet day, no stress at all,” said the defending champion.

“It was one of the most relaxed days we’ve had in this Tour de France.

“It was like having a double rest day.

“Now it’s about saving energy for the Pyrenees and the Alps.”

CrownBet has pulled Froome into -333.33 to take out his fourth general classification title at Le Tour.

Team Astana’s Fabio Aru is hanging around at +450 odds, with local hope Romain Bardet rounding out the podium favourites at +1200.

Yellow jersey outright odds

-333.33 – Chris Froome

+450 – Fabio Aru

+1200 – Romain Bardet

+2500 – Jakob Fuglsang

+4000 – Daniel Martin, Rigoberto Uran

+5000 – Nairo Quintana

More quoted at CrownBet.com.au

Kittel primed for fifth stage win before climbers take over

Stage 11 will take the peloton on a 203km push from Eymet to Pau, where the sprinters will have yet another chance to shine.

Aiming for a fifth stage win of Tour 2017, Kittel is the unsurprising -161.29 favourite at Sportsbet.com.au.

Greipel (+700) is the only other man in single digits.

Stage 12 should be a different story altogether as the stayers take over for the long, hilly hike to Peyragudes.

Yellow jersey rivals Aru (+450) and Froome (+500) are expected to lead the pack.

Stage 11 betting: Eymet/Pau

-161.29 – Marcel Kittel

+700 – Andre Greipel

+1000 – Dylan Groenewegen

+1400 – Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb

+2200 – Edvald Boasson Hagen

+2500 – Nacer Bouhanni, Rudiger Selig

+4000 – Daniel McLay, Michael Matthews

+6600 – Sonny Colbrelli

+8000 – Thomas De Gendt, Stephen Cummings

More quoted at Sportsbet.com.au

Stage 12 betting: Pau/Peyragudes

+450 – Fabio Aru

+500 – Chris Froome

+1100 – Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana

+1400 – Daniel Martin, Jakob Fuglsang

+1600 – Thibaut Pinot

+1800 – Rigoberto Uran, Warren Barguil

+2500 – Alberto Contador

+3300 – Sergio Henao, Mikel Landa, Tim Wellens, Simon Yates, Pierre Rolland, Lilian Calmejane, Esteban Chaves, Emanuel Buchmann

More quoted at Sportsbet.com.au