Prize money for Worlds 2017 in Bergen

[SKSemtex]

I assume everybody read the article here in CN regarding the price money in Bergen.

If not here is the link http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/no-change-to-worlds-prize-money-in-bergen/

This is just ridiculous. Something is really wrong in cycling. I wonder what is the year pay check of Mr. Cookson but he must be a very bad and incompetent manager.

I know that all prize money in this sport is jokes but 7000 EUR for the win in probably hardest one-day sports performance watched by several hundred tousends on the place and millions on TV is the "nice" certificate of competency of UCI management.

 

[PremierAndrew]

At least there's equal prize money for the men and women, it's something

 

[Anderis]

I would be OK with women getting bigger prize per km ridden than men if they generated more interest than men's races.

 

[Robert5091]

I assume everybody read the article here in CN regarding the price money in Bergen.

If not here is the link http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/no-change-to-worlds-prize-money-in-bergen/

This is just ridiculous. Something is really wrong in cycling. I wonder what is the year pay check of Mr. Cookson but he must be a very bad and incompetent manager.

I know that all prize money in this sport is jokes but 7000 EUR for the win in probably hardest one-day sports performance watched by several hundred tousends on the place and millions on TV is the "nice" certificate of competency of UCI management.

Mr. Cookson is on 340 000 Swiss Francs per year (about 350 000 US dollars)

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

I would be OK with women getting bigger prize per km ridden than men if they generated more interest than men's races.

So would I. And I would also be OK with men getting a bigger prize than women if they generated more interest than the women's race. I'm just not sure others on this forum would be.

 

[Pentacycle]

Re: Re:

I would be OK with women getting bigger prize per km ridden than men if they generated more interest than men's races.

So would I. And I would also be OK with men getting a bigger prize than women if they generated more interest than the women's race. I'm just not sure others on this forum would be.

Unequal prizes are rationally justified. Also, the whole women's peloton starts the WC anyway since it's the single most important televised race. This is not the case for men at all, but higher prize money could give incentive for top riders to go as a domestique or free role, even if the parcours does not suit them.

 

[Gigs_98]

I also think there would be reasonable arguments to give women less prize money but I'm still happy about the decision. The ultimate goal has to be that womens cycling gets as important as mens cycling and you're not gonna achieve that by outlining that male cyclists deserve more price money

 

[Netserk]

I also think there would be reasonable arguments to give women less prize money but I'm still happy about the decision. The ultimate goal has to be that womens cycling gets as important as mens cycling and you're not gonna achieve that by outlining that male cyclists deserve more price money

No.

Surely, the goal is for both sports to be as successful as they can be, independently of each other.

 

[Red Rick]

I also think there would be reasonable arguments to give women less prize money but I'm still happy about the decision. The ultimate goal has to be that womens cycling gets as important as mens cycling and you're not gonna achieve that by outlining that male cyclists deserve more price money

No.

Surely, the goal is for both sports to be as successful as they can be, independently of each other.

Pretty much this. Both deserve the effort of organisers and governing bodies to ensure they are the best sport they can be. It should never be about equality of outcome.

That said I'm pretty indifferent about equal prize money.

Cycling is for 95% a salary/sponsorship sport in terms of where the money comes from.

The Olympic games give out no prize money, athletes get bonuses from national federations.

 

[rlntlssly]

I also think there would be reasonable arguments to give women less prize money but I'm still happy about the decision. The ultimate goal has to be that womens cycling gets as important as mens cycling and you're not gonna achieve that by outlining that male cyclists deserve more price money

No.

Surely, the goal is for both sports to be as successful as they can be, independently of each other.

Why should they be different? You seem to be implying that women's cycling might inherently be less interesting than men's.

Of course there's no point in achieving equality by undermining men's cycling, but why should equality not be a goal?

 

[Netserk]

Because they *are* different. That has nothing to do with one being inherently more interesting than the other or not. If you want them to be the same and pay the same, combine the two pelotons and have men and women compete against each other...

 

[kingjr]

Just let them race together, problem solved.

Edit: Netserk beat me to it.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Considering that the 7000 EUR is divided equally among 6-9 riders and possibly another 9 staff, its literally peanuts

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Re:

Considering that the 7000 EUR is divided equally among 6-9 riders and possibly another 9 staff, its literally peanuts

Those peanuts in India are hella expensive bruh

 

[Echoes]

They are not underpaid, they are overpaid, definitely. As much as I dislike Mr Cookson, CHF340,000/year is a lot less than the best paid rider (needless to remind you of who that is and of who made that possible).

Cycling might be hard but it's way less hard than working on an assembly line in a factory or as a bricklayer on a building site. Beside it's less hard than triathlon while triathletes are lesser paid.

As Marc Madiot said in the new version of his book "Parlons vélo" (Talent sport, 2017):

We are not a sport for the rich. If you want to be a billionair, you should not cycle. You should do Formula 1, tennis or football. If you do "cycling", it is only misery. It is a bit of a masochist thing but it is our DNA. When you are in such a world, real personalities are emerging: Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña. They stood out. Froome and such are all kind but if you put them on the Champs-Élysées, nobody would recognise them.

 

[Ruby United]

They are not underpaid, they are overpaid, definitely. As much as I dislike Mr Cookson, CHF340,000/year is a lot less than the best paid rider (needless to remind you of who that is and of who made that possible).

Cycling might be hard but it's way less hard than working on an assembly line in a factory or as a bricklayer on a building site. Beside it's less hard than triathlon while triathletes are lesser paid.

As Marc Madiot said in the new version of his book "Parlons vélo" (Talent sport, 2017):

We are not a sport for the rich. If you want to be a billionair, you should not cycle. You should do Formula 1, tennis or football. If you do "cycling", it is only misery. It is a bit of a masochist thing but it is our DNA. When you are in such a world, real personalities are emerging: Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña. They stood out. Froome and such are all kind but if you put them on the Champs-Élysées, nobody would recognise them.

In terms of their salary, I don't think that they are underpaid or overpaid. They are paid just right. That is the nature of a free market.

 

[Red Rick]

There's no right or wrong salary. Compared to one sport it's horse crap, compared to another they're living like gods. Only thing I can say is that WT cyclists are basically guaranteed a liveable wage (I think). I'm not sure about pro continental teams?

 

[Brullnux]

They are not underpaid, they are overpaid, definitely. As much as I dislike Mr Cookson, CHF340,000/year is a lot less than the best paid rider (needless to remind you of who that is and of who made that possible).

Cycling might be hard but it's way less hard than working on an assembly line in a factory or as a bricklayer on a building site. Beside it's less hard than triathlon while triathletes are lesser paid.

As Marc Madiot said in the new version of his book "Parlons vélo" (Talent sport, 2017):

We are not a sport for the rich. If you want to be a billionair, you should not cycle. You should do Formula 1, tennis or football. If you do "cycling", it is only misery. It is a bit of a masochist thing but it is our DNA. When you are in such a world, real personalities are emerging: Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña. They stood out. Froome and such are all kind but if you put them on the Champs-Élysées, nobody would recognise them.

In terms of their salary, I don't think that they are underpaid or overpaid. They are paid just right. That is the nature of a free market.

The sacrosanct magical invisible hand of the free market. Which obviously exists. That's why teachers are paid ten times less than an average CEO. Because the market is always right. The free market is god. God is the free market. #edgyancap

 

[Scarponi]

Re:

At least there's equal prize money for the men and women, it's something

I'll open a can of worms here but it shouldn't be equal. One gets a higher viewership and one has a demanding course. Tennis and cycling shouldn't have the same for the women imo

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Considering that the 7000 EUR is divided equally among 6-9 riders and possibly another 9 staff, its literally peanuts

Those peanuts in India are hella expensive bruh

It's also a lot now in places like Sydney where houses in low income areas are literally 1 million

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

At least there's equal prize money for the men and women, it's something

I'll open a can of worms here but it shouldn't be equal. One gets a higher viewership and one has a demanding course. Tennis and cycling shouldn't have the same for the women imo

I agree (on cycling- can't speak to other sports...don't really watch them).

They shouldn't get paid as much because they don't bring as much to the table. Once they've reached the viewing numbers and are bringing their sponsors as much as the men, then salaries could be equaled.

 

[Echoes]

The sacrosanct magical invisible hand of the free market. Which obviously exists. That's why teachers are paid ten times less than an average CEO. Because the market is always right. The free market is god. God is the free market. #edgyancap

Whether we are in favour of free market or not, I'm not really sure that the salary that Tinkov gave to Sagan is rational within the framework of free market economy. It was just madness. I'm no expert in economy but it's impossible for another team to pay him now. He's paid by Specialized, not by Bora. Just because Oleg could find a person he can identify his miserable person with.

Also even if I'm not really in favour of totally free market, we should say that it could more or less work if the consumers were better educated. In this case if the casual cycling fans stopped watching races that are ever more boring. As much as I'm a cycling fan, I don't like what it's becoming and still don't think it's a sport for the rich. Sport is just entertainment and there are more important matters in society.

 

[Ruby United]

They are not underpaid, they are overpaid, definitely. As much as I dislike Mr Cookson, CHF340,000/year is a lot less than the best paid rider (needless to remind you of who that is and of who made that possible).

Cycling might be hard but it's way less hard than working on an assembly line in a factory or as a bricklayer on a building site. Beside it's less hard than triathlon while triathletes are lesser paid.

As Marc Madiot said in the new version of his book "Parlons vélo" (Talent sport, 2017):

We are not a sport for the rich. If you want to be a billionair, you should not cycle. You should do Formula 1, tennis or football. If you do "cycling", it is only misery. It is a bit of a masochist thing but it is our DNA. When you are in such a world, real personalities are emerging: Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña. They stood out. Froome and such are all kind but if you put them on the Champs-Élysées, nobody would recognise them.

In terms of their salary, I don't think that they are underpaid or overpaid. They are paid just right. That is the nature of a free market.

The sacrosanct magical invisible hand of the free market. Which obviously exists. That's why teachers are paid ten times less than an average CEO. Because the market is always right. The free market is god. God is the free market. #edgyancap

No. Freedom and rights are the free market.
That is sacrosanct.

 

[Echoes]

It's not sacrosanct. I neither believe in freedom nor in rights. We have rights if we have duties.

 

[AQETUYIOI]

The sacrosanct magical invisible hand of the free market. Which obviously exists. That's why teachers are paid ten times less than an average CEO. Because the market is always right. The free market is god. God is the free market. #edgyancap

We live in a mixed economy, not a free market!

Teachers are usually employed by the state.

No. Freedom and rights are the free market.
That is sacrosanct.

Politicians/central planners promise 'freedom and rights'.