roadwarrior

How about $10 a head to go sit on Alpe d'Huez (one way in and out)? Or Mt. Ventoux?

Now we're talking real money...

Namenda

The primary difference between cycling on TV and the NFL on TV...my wife (and the rest of my family and friends) will watch football. Cycling? Forget it...

domestique

I was shocked by the other list of top 10 sports figures (non-cycling)

Michelle Wie! 17million, turned pro at 16 but has yet to win a tournament! (granted some of her money is through endorsements, hence the reason Tiger is making 90+million a year, but still!)

she is only 16... and hasn't won a tournament!

botto 

South Korea, Venezuela, Dominican Republic... Hell, it's even a pretty healthy minority sport in the Netherlands.

GuitarWizard

If she was 250 pounds and ugly, I'm quite sure she wouldn't be making anywhere near what she does.

Snuffleupagus

Nobody wants to address my points...so either they make no sense at all and don't warrant a response - or my argument is water proof.

I work in absolutes

RockyMtnMerlin

I think your observations are valid. I would add that parents not only see $$$ as a reward for their athletically "gifted" child, they also see $$$ for getting into cycling. Many of the other sports discussed here are subsidized by schools (at least to my knowledge high school football players do not have to pay for their uniforms, footballs, playing fields etc).

Uncle Ted

Yeah, Baseball is probably the third most global sport after Soccer and Basketball, it's just not super popular in most of europe.

ratebeer

Bridge Level Salaries
I think more money would work at the "bridge level" between amateur and professional but less so at the top end of salaries. A friend of our family pitched for the Houston Astros and honestly wasn't that good. But he made nearly half a million bucks every year, so all his sacrifices (and my niece who dated him) paid off. When you see very gifted cycling amateurs without college degrees forgo a professional bid because their next contract would either be next-to-nothing as a pro cyclist or $38,000 as a garbage truck driver -- nevermind what kids with college degrees have for alternate opportunities -- then it's hard for that person and their families to choose professional cycling. I'd think it would be especially hard for English and American riders who would make relative bank in the workforce.

Bump that up to even $120,000 for entry level pros and you have a whole different scenario at this critical choice level.

On the high end
Even $1,000,000 is enough for parents of a gifted athlete to realize that a child's earning potential as an athlete could exceed their income as a surgeon or attorney, so $2.2 million or $30 million or any other astronomical sum doesn't mean much more.

patentcad

I'll say these cyclists are 'gifted'. At that recent race in Quatar, the breakaway rode 58km in the FIRST HOUR in one of those stages. That's about 36 miles. I'm sure they had a tailwind, but that's just astonishing. The fastest race I ever rode averaged about 28mph for a 35 mile criterium, and that was a combined 2/3/4 Vets field (they threw everybody together for the race). +8mph FASTER than that is almost inconceivable to me. There were some very fast men in that amateur race. But not like the UCI pros. Amazing. And that's why they make those huge $38K salaries (starting salary in the UCI) : ).

botto 

incorrect.

donrhummy

I noticed Levi Leipheimer wasn't on the list in the magazine. Does that mean he earns less than $1 mill?

Also, Lemond's salary adjusted for inflation would put him at 3rd today: $2,855,664.93

donrhummy

Not quite. No one has ever had that salary in baseball. The most ever was ARod at $25 million/yr (and that's not even accurate as much of the money was deferred and the contract backloaded so the bigger amounts came later). No one's gotten above $22 million (Manny Ramirez signed at almost the same time as ARod) since then, and that only happened once. So I'd say Lance, at his value to Discovery/Postal, would likely have translated to $18-22 million. Still a ridiculous amount.

wfrogge

99% of her money is from Nike since she hasent won anything as a pro and only placed high a few times.

Uncle Ted

Care to enlighten me? What other sport has the same broad based popular appeal in multiple countries on different continents? Golf maybe or tennis maybe, but i must confess i was thinking in terms of team sports.

classic1

They aren't even real countries, and Soccer pwns them anyway.

Friggin Cricket is a healthy minority sport in the Netherlands from what I've heard.

classic1

There is no person on this forum sillier than you patentcad, though thank you for writing a post that didn't include the words 'weenie' or 'Six13'.

MacMan

Not too sure where it ranks, but rugby is a huge global sport - the rugby world cup is a massive event.

patentcad

Oh no, I'm crushed that you have permeated my carefully constructed BF image of total sincere earnestness. What shall I ever do? I know. The next time I see you here you Aussie weenie I'm flattening you with my Six13. Mate.

Wait, my Six13 is far too light to ever flatten ANY weenie. Particularly a Fosters guzzling Australian dude. Which reminds me that new SystemSix head tube actually looks like a can of Fosters. The irony never ends on BF.

If you want silly, do a search for 'Euro' and read his posts. Then come back and tell us what you've learned about True Silliness.

Recumbomatic

They don't give college scholarships for cycling.

botto 

no.

but if i must, then cricket easily has a broader appeal than baseball.

patentcad

Nobody in baseball ever won 7 straight Tour de France titles. In my opinion that pisses on anything anybody has ever done in any sport, so we'd be breaking new ground. But it's like everything else you tend to read here: debateable and of course, utterly meaningless in every respect.

So all things considered I'd have to raise my 'Lance as an MLB baseball player' salary projection to $50 million per year for ten years + a Gulfstream V private jet as a signing bonus.

roadwarrior

I believe that you will find they do get some money at this school. Be sure to click on the little link about "the future of Marian cycling" as they are making a huge investment in a cycling performance center.

They won their ninth NCCA cycling track championship. They are also killer roadies. And it's a tiny (1,800 students) private school.

For those of you that did the Race 2 Replace, the 18-24 winner is from this school.

TheKillerPenguin

ay, their coach sent me one of their cycling newsletters! Check out the crazy facilities they've got:
https://view.exacttarget.com/?ffcb10-...fefd1572776d00

Too bad those guys are in Indianapolis, otherwise I'd get in touch with em.