SPOTY Betting: Podium awaits former Tottenham star

Gareth Bale has enjoyed a successful 2014 under great pressure

Michael Lintorn is backing Gareth Bale to achieve a top-three BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award finish...

After a rather impressive BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award shortlist in 2013 - Chris Froome polled sixth despite winning the Tour de France - the 2014 edition feels like a return to the usual underwhelming non-Olympic-year calibre.

There are two exceptional candidates: 1.364/11 frontrunner Rory McIlroy, who won two of the four golf majors as well as being part of Europe's latest Ryder Cup-winning team, and Lewis Hamilton, who is 4.1n/a having prevailed in an enthralling Formula One Drivers' Championship battle with Nico Rosberg.

The fact that there is nobody else shorter than 70.0 in the betting emphasises that the standard isn't particularly high beyond that. It also indicates that there is a strong chance of 70.069/1 hopeful Gareth Bale completing a third all-male podium in four years.

Footballers don't win the award too often. The sport has only provided two victors this century, though admittedly one was rather inexplicably Ryan Giggs in the similarly unremarkable 2009.

However, there has been an average of just short of a footballer every two years in the top three since 1998 and Bale's circumstances are fairly unique.

He was involved in the most expensive transfer deal of all time, joining Real Madrid for 85 million, thrived under the enormous pressure of having to instantly prove that he belonged alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and ended his debut season as a Champions League and Copa del Rey winner.

Bale hasn't shirked his international duties to focus on succeeding in Spain either, starting all four of Wales' Euro 2016 qualifiers to date as they have gone unbeaten in Group B and scoring twice.

The Welsh factor that is one of his greatest assets. If you produced an Olympics-style medal table of Sports Personality of the Year recipients since 2007, Wales would top it with two firsts (Joe Calzaghe and Giggs) and a second (Leigh Halfpenny last year). Bale has sole access to the Welsh vote in 2014.

Bale is an appetising 2.68/5 to finish in the top three and should be assisted by his perceived main adversaries like Jo Pavey 2.3611/8, Lizzy Yarnold 8.07/1 and Charlotte Dujardin 10.5n/a all being English.

National pride has taken on increased prominence in the voting recently, with last year the first time ever that no English man or woman made the podium. There was only one in 2011 too, whereas before that there had been at least two a year in every instalment since 1972.

Recommended Bet: Back Gareth Bale for a top-three finish @ 2.68/5