Riders face a tough challenge for the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire

British team JLT Condor may hope to show up the big European teams here, as their man Olympic Gold medallist Ed Clancy has won a race in York before. He will be an outside chance but will be highly motivated to prove himself.

German Marcel Kittel (9/2 second-favourite in the event outright betting with Coral), who sprinted to win the Leeds to Harrogate and London stages of Tour de France last year, will be the man to watch for stage two, however. He is 6/5 to win stage one.

The third and final stage of the race is likely to be explosive as the riders have their last chance to fight for overall lead of the race. This hilly route will cover many of same roads that last year’s Tour de France stage 2, one of the most beautiful and thrilling of the race, as it takes a winding road from Wakefield to Leeds.

Expect huge crowds on the Cow and Calf climb just outside Ilkley; the climb in will be in the final hour of the stage and may be the chance of a decisive attack. The road flattens out towards the end, however, and it could give the sprinters teams the chance to pull back any breakaways and set up a final sprint.

That, then, is the route, but what of the riders who will race it? British hero, former Tour de France winner and multiple Olympic Gold medallist Bradley Wiggins (40/1 outright) will be there to lead his new youth development team, Team Wiggins, after leaving Team Sky earlier this year. He is unlikely to compete for overall honours, but will nonetheless be a huge draw for the crowds.

Yorkshire will be represented by a host of riders, including Team Sky’s Ben Swift (11/4 Tour favourite) and one of British top domestic riders Russ Downing (40/1), who both hail from Rotherham, as well as Barnsley’s Clancy.