Professional Cycling For the Fans - How Much Money??

1. Is there any prize money for the winner of the TdF? If so , how much?

2. What would an average salary for a top cyclist on a top team be? (Garmin, HTC, BMC etc.)

3. What would a domestique on the same team get paid?

4. Wonder what the budget is for teams in the TdF. There are a lot of support people involved.

Google is your friend. :)

The following is conjecture (and probably faulty due to memory) as teams don't usually release definite numbers...

Budget for top Tour teams is between $9-11 million.

The winner of Le Tour usually doesn't keep his prize money, he gives it to the team. He'll more than make up for it through next year's salary increase and endorsement contracts and post-tour criterium appearance fees.

Domestiques get paid better nowadays, but not nearly as much as the team leaders. 1st year pros make at least $24k, unless they have really good amateur results. Top domestiques make $100k+. They make more from divided up winnings. Alot if they get into TdF.

Lemond was the first $1million salary in cycling in 1985 with La Vie Clair, and that was spread over 3 years. The team director had said, "If he wasn't American, he'd be worth one less zero." Later in 1990, he made $1m a year with Team Z/Gan. Top riders today make $1m-$3m a year.

The TDF winner gets about 450,000 euro, and that prize money is split with the team and staff.

Salary is based on your palmares. Contador is probably the highest paid cyclist at 5-6 million euro a year. A classics rider who wins a 'monument' can make $200,000 a year and up. The more you win, the more money you make.

A domestic with no major wins under his belt is probably going to make less then 100,000 euro a year.

Team budgets vary widely. It can range anywhere from 5 million euros to nearly 30 million euros a year.