Cycling has been a sport in the Olympics for nearly the entirety of all Olympic games. Since 1896, track events, road races, BMX racing, mountain bike racing, and dirt jumping have been contested. These cycling sports involve both male and female contestants, and are conducted either in summer or winter.
The contests have been carried out though the UCI with the entire Olympics organized by the International Olympics Committee. These Olympics are held every two years with an alternation between the summer and the winter Olympics and draw participants from all over the world. Due to this, Olympics draw significant attention on a global scale, with fans having supported and opposing countries.
Cycling tournaments also offer their fans a chance to bet and win big. However, one of the most prominent gaming authorities, the Nevada Gaming control banned the Olympics betting in 2001, and only legalized it in 2015. The years after the ban appeared to be accompanied by gloom. This is because, betting is one of the ways through which fans are significantly drawn to the competitions and as such follow up to determine whether their teams have won or lost. Since the legalisation, gamblers have warmed up to the various ways of betting including:
- Money line bets: also called futures, these are straight-up bets for competition winners. The current trend is to have the betters to make a prediction of which country will win gold medals in the events that are upcoming with the availability of options for bronze and silver.
- Winning the gold medal: these provide the opportunity for one to bet on the country that will be crowned the winner of the gold medal and this does not have to be necessary on single events but on the overall outcome of the Olympics.
- Prop bets: offer many wagers for instance the bet on the medal count, a more complex way of betting.