Of all the classifications within the Tour de France, the Best Young Rider competition is the least known and celebrated. Yet, it’s still a tremendous honor to be the best young rider in the sport’s most popular cycling event.
Throughout the three week Tour de France, the leader of this competition will wear a white jersey. This year, there are a handful of competitors that meet the criteria to compete for this classification.
But, can anyone defeat the reigning white jersey winner Egan Bernal of Team Ineos and become the best young rider for the 2020 TDF?
Tour de France betting sites have released their odds for this competition. Let’s take a look at these white jersey betting odds and see if we can predict which cyclist will break from the peloton to become the Best Young Rider of the 2020 Tour de France.
What Is the Best Young Rider Competition?
The Best Young Rider classification, more commonly referred to as the white jersey competition, was first created in 1975 after the organizers of the TDF removed the combination classification, which originally wore the white jersey.
At first, only professionals with less than three years of experience could compete for the white jersey. That criteria changed in 1983 when it was only open to first time Tour de France competitors.
In 1987, the rules changed again and only riders 26 years and younger were eligible for the white jersey. Currently, tt remains a classification where only cyclists under the age of 26 years old, as of January 1st of the year following the TDF, can compete in.
From 1989-1999 the organizers of the TDF didn’t award this competition. However, at the behest of fans and teams, the white jersey competition was brought back in 2000 and remains a fixture within the sport’s Super Bowl of cycling.
The winner of this jersey is the cyclist under 26 years of age who has the best overall time at the end of the three week Tour de France race.
⚪ Top moment maillot blanc Krys ⚪
🇮🇹 Francesco Moser, double vainqueur d’étape et premier maillot blanc du Tour en 1975.
🇮🇹 Francesco Moser, two stage wins and the very first white jersey of the Tour de France, back in 1975. #TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/1wYSzX4YrO
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 28, 2020
Previous White Jersey Winners
The following is a list of previous white jersey winners dating back to 2010:
- Andy Schleck (LUX) in 2010
- Pierre Rolland (FRA) in 2011
- Tejay van Garderen (USA) in 2012
- Nairo Quintana (COL) in 2013, 2015
- Thibaut Pinot (FRA) in 2014
- Adam Yates (GBR) in 2016
- Simon Yates (GBR) in 2017
- Pierre Latour (FRA) in 2018
- Egan Bernal (COL) in 2019
Officially, Andy Schleck holds the record for most white jersey competition wins with three (2008-2010). Jan Ullrich won it three times as well (1996-1998), but he did it when the jersey wasn’t “officially” awarded. Egan Bernal is the defending white jersey winner.
France has the most number of winning cyclists for this competition at eight. Italy is second with four.
Tour de France White Jersey Betting Odds
The following odds are courtesy of Bet365:
- Egan Bernal (-162)
- Tadej Pogacar (+225)
- Pavel Sivakov (+1200)
- Daniel Martinez (+1200)
- Enric Mas Nicolau (+1400)
- Lennard Kamna (+3300)
- Sergio Higuita (+3300)
- David Gaudu (+4000)
- March Hisrchi (+15000)
Although there are numerous cyclists who can compete for this classification, the reality is that only these five riders have the best shot at winning the white jersey competition for this year’s Tour de France:
Egan Bernal (-162)
At just 23 years old, Colombia’s Egan Bernal is the reigning white jersey winner and is eligible to compete in this competition for the next few years. He competed in his first Tour de France in 2018 and was the youngest rider in the race.
In 2018, Bernal would end up 2nd in the white jersey competition nearly six minutes behind the winner Pierre Latour. Egan was a domestique for Chris Froome and Gerraint Thomas that year. Latour was able to ride for himself.
In 2019, Bernal ended up becoming the overall leader for Team Ineos and not only won the 2019 Tour de France, but he absolutely crushed the competition for the white jersey. Second place rider David Gaudu finished roughly 24 minutes behind Bernal by time they rolled into Paris.
Bernal is the clear leader of Team Ineos this year and a favorite to win the overall yellow jersey for 2020, which should put him in a good position to win the white jersey for the second straight year.
Tadej Pogacar (+225)
Unlike in the 2019 TDF, Egan Bernal is going to have a real battle this year for the white jersey and that competition will come from Tadej Pogacar. The 21 year old Slovenian, is making his Tour de France debut and is one of the cyclists to keep an eye on in this year’s Grand Tour.
Not only will he contend for the white jersey, but some fans and pundits believe that Pogacar can also compete for the yellow jersey as well.
Can Tadej Pogaçar deliver at his debut Tour de France?
Can Alexander Kristoff net a fourth Tour stage win?Check out our takes on UAE-Team Emirates’ Tour de France team:https://t.co/rCjcEKlGeR
— VeloNews (@velonews) August 22, 2020
Pogacar will be either the top supporter for Fabio Aru on UAE Team Emirates or he will end up as the leader. Last year, he rode in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana and captured the white jersey for that Grand Tour. He also won three stages in his first ever Grand Tour experience.
Pavel Sivakov (+1200)
Pavel Sivakov is a 23 year old Russian cyclist who also rides for Team Ineos. He finished 9th in the Giro d’Italia last year, so he does have some Grand Tour experience.
This year, Sivakov has already won a young rider classification in the Tour Down Under. He also finished 2nd at Route d’Occitanie and 11th at the Criterium du Dauphine.
Sivakov comes into his first Tour de France in good form already. If Bernal falters in anyway, Sivakov will not only leapfrog him in the white jersey competition, but could also become the leader on Team Ineos.
Daniel Martinez (+1200)
Daniel Martinez will make his second appearance in the Tour de France having debuted in 2018. The 24 year old Colombian finished 5th in the Young Rider classification that year, well over 75 minutes back of Pierre Latour. Martinez didn’t compete in the 2019 TDF, but raced in the Vuelta instead.
The Team EF Education First rider has shown good form already in 2020 by winning both the yellow and white jerseys at the Criterium du Dauphine and finishing 2nd overall in the Tour Colombia.
Martinez is overlooked in this competition, which means he does offer some betting value.
Enric Mas Nicolau (+1400)
The 25 year old Spaniard is a “co-leader” of Team Movistar this year along with the veteran Alejandro Valverde. However, you can expect Nicolau to get most of the support as long as he doesn’t crack in the mountains.
Nicolau has competed in three Grand Tours already, with two coming in the Vuelta a Espana where he finished 71st in 2017 and 2nd in 2018.
Last year, Enric finished 22nd overall in his Tour de France debut. He finished 3rd in the white jersey competition nearly one hour behind Egan Bernal.
Hay que sufrir para avanzar.
You have to suffer in order to move forward.@dauphine @Movistar_Team
📸 @PhotoGomezSport pic.twitter.com/HdB2GXfTHg
— Enric Mas Nicolau (@EnricMasNicolau) August 14, 2020
Nicolau has a strong team alongside him and provides decent value. However, he will have to show solid form in the mountains to have any real chance at this jersey and a Top 15 spot in the overall general classification.
Who Will Win the Best Young Rider Classification in the 2020 TDF?
I’m really looking forward to the battle between Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogacar for this white jersey competition. Not only are we looking at the two best young riders in the sport, along with Wout van Aert, we are also looking at two cyclists who can compete for TDF wins in the near future.
With that said, I’m really surprised that Egan Bernal’s betting odds are this low. We are talking about the reining Tour de France champion and white jersey winner. He’s once again a favorite to win the overall classification, which means that he would easily capture this jersey as well.
I think Pogacar is a year away from being at true contender as this is his first Tour de France. But, I do expect him to keep this jersey competition close until the final week of the 2020 TDF.
Egan Bernal should win the Best Young Rider classification this year and probably over the next three years unless Pogacar upstages him in the next few Tour de France races.
Tour de France Best Young Rider –Egan Bernal (-162)
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
