The Women’s Omnium starts on Monday in Rio as the 2016 Olympic Track Cycling continues. Monday also sees the finale for the Men’s Omnium whilst the Women’s Sprint competition continues. Previews for these two events can be found in earlier posts.
Women’s Omnium
The format of the Women’s Omnium is the same as the mens event.
The Omnium is split over two days and comprises 6 different events (3 on each day):
- Scratch race;
- Individual Pursuit;
- Elimination Race;
- Time Trial (1km);
- Flying Lap (against the clock);
- Points Race.
It is a notoriously difficult competition to win as the riders need to be strong across all 6 race types. Points are awarded to the winner of each the first 5 races – 40 to the winner, 38 to second, 36 for third, etc. The format of the Points Race means the riders can gain or lose points depending on the flow of the race.
Contenders
There is a standout rider in the Women’s Omnium field – Laura Trott (GBR). Trott is the reigning Olympic Champion in this event and current World Champion. She has already won Gold in Rio in the Team Pursuit and is massively favoured in this event too. The bookmakers have Trott priced in the 1.50 range. We would have to go Win Only with a big stake to make a decent profit.
Second favourite is Sarah Hammer (USA). Hammer finished in third pace behind Trott at the World Championships Omnium. She also took silver in the Women’s Team Pursuit race here – but she did look like the powerhouse in the USA team in that event. Hammer has value in the 5.0 range because the EW comes into play.
Laurie Berthon (FRA) was 2nd in the Omnium at this years World Championships. That is by far the best result of her track career. She is young at 24 so that result may be the start of bigger things. She is currently 4th favourite for the omnium here at 8.0-11.0. The lack of results puts me off placing a bet on her.
The rider that the bookmakers like as third favourite is Annette Edmondson (AUS). She won the World Championship omnium in 2015 and had medals in the three preceding championships. My one reservation is that the Australia team have had a fairly poor Olympics on the track. They have generally underperformed. Edmondson might be the rider to buck that trend with a small EW bet in the 7.0-9.0 range.
Women’s Omnium – Tips
WON – Back Laura Trott to win the Women’s Omnium with a 4.0/10.0 stake at 1.67 with Coral.
Bet on Trott here:
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