Salaries in pro cycling

[LaFlorecita]

I was wondering... what is a normal salary for a pro cyclist, just a base salary, without win bonusses and stuff.

And who are the 10 highest paid cyclists and what do they earn annually?

And no, I am not considering a career as a cyclist.

 

[Gloin22]

I am pretty sure of the Top 5, rest are really unknowns. I know Cav gets 2.2 milllion but no idea how many riders get same.

OPQS have offered Cav 4 million at one point so I am confident some riders in their team also earn big, maybe Boonen or Martin.

1. Conta ( salary + Specialized )
2. Gilbert
3. Evans
4. Hushvod
5. Nibali ( when joins Astana )

 

[DominicDecoco]

Not enough.

 

[Arnout]

Average salary in ProTour is €264k this year. I reckon there are some 25-30 riders making more than a million €s, but that's just my guess. Anyway, they aren't as underpaid as they're sometimes made out to be.

 

[Arnout]

Not enough.

Why not? I appreciate what they do, but if it's not enough for them they should sod off frankly. 99% of population will make less than them.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I am pretty sure of the Top 5, rest are really unknowns. I know Cav gets 2.2 milllion but no idea how many riders get same.

OPQS have offered Cav 4 million at one point so I am confident some riders in their team also earn big, maybe Boonen or Martin.

1. Conta ( salary + Specialized )
2. Gilbert
3. Evans
4. Hushvod
5. Nibali ( when joins Astana )

Yes Phil, Cuddles and Thor make sense (BMC) but I actually think Cav is up there too and Fabian maybe...

A while ago 3 million was considered as an immense amount of money (which it obviously is) but cycling seems to go the football way with huge salaries. For example Nibs with what was it 2.6 million? Of course Nibs is great but still, a few years back only the 2 or three best cyclists got that much money.

 

[RHRH19861986]

According to UCI rules, AFAIK, minimum salaries per year are:

Pro Conti Team: 27.500 EUR
Pro Tour Team: 30.000 EUR

Ullrich got 2,5 million EUR a year, today´s top pros will rank in this area, don´t think that has increased a lot.

Pro Conti leaders (Coppel, Moncoutie, Taramae) will earn 100.000 to <= 1 mio EUR a year.

 

[airstream]

Yes, not enough but sadly the lot is predetermined by demand from fans and sponsors.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Why not? I appreciate what they do, but if it's not enough for them they should sod off frankly. 99% of population will make less than them.

In comparison with football, basketball, baseball players cyclists make next to nothing while you could argue that they do so much more for their money.

 

[RHRH19861986]

I never, never, never ever believe these 264k EUR a year average, which - I know - have been published recently. They (UCI, ...) just try to improve reputation of the cycling world, to show an image as good as possible.

Sebastian Lang from Lotto, who stopped end 2010 or 2011, had 70.000 EUR a year, he was solid and a typical "average" rider, even good average.

FdJ, Vacansoleil, Euskaltel, Lampre, they will have masses of riders that don´t have much more than 50.000 a year.

 

[Panda Claws]

Yeah, but you have to add the bonuses they get too. Winning the tour means 450,000 euros to be distributed among the team for example.

For the guys that make a lot of money like Contador that does not mean that much, but for a domestique. I even heard of leaders that would not take their bonus for that reason, but let it be distributed among the team.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I never, never, never ever believe these 264k EUR a year average, which - I know - have been published recently. They (UCI, ...) just try to improve reputation of the cycling world, to show an image as good as possible.

Sebastian Lang from Lotto, who stopped end 2010 or 2011, had 70.000 EUR a year, he was solid and a typical "average" rider, even good average.

FdJ, Vacansoleil, Euskaltel, Lampre, they will have masses of riders that don´t have much more than 50.000 a year.

The big earners drag the average up a lot.

 

[theyoungest]

Yeah, but you have to add the bonuses they get too. Winning the tour means 450,000 euros to be distributed among the team for example.

Yeah. And that's what you get when you win the biggest race in the world. It's just a joke, the way the money is distributed in cycling (or actually, it isn't distributed, it just all goes to the organizers)

 

[LaFlorecita]

Yeah, but you have to add the bonuses they get too. Winning the tour means 450,000 euros to be distributed among the team for example.

For the guys that make a lot of money like Contador that does not mean that much, but for a domestique. I even heard of leaders that would not take their bonus for that reason, but let it be distributed among the team.

I get your point but I was only wondering about the base salary. Of course prize money, win bonusses and sponsor money get the riders a lot of money as well. For example Alberto got 2 million from Specialized last year. (I don't know if they'll continue to pay him that much)

 

[Arnout]

In comparison with football, basketball, baseball players cyclists make next to nothing while you could argue that they do so much more for their money.

In comparison with businessmen, engineers make a lot less too, luckily I chose economics as my study. The world isn't equal, it is supply and demand (or, in case of businessmen, better negotiation skills ). They are making enough to earn a decent living.

Remember, someone like Thomas Dekker was able to afford a big house in Italy and a Porsche 911 when he was cycling for 2-3 years. Sure, more is better, but it isn't a sport for the very poor.

I never, never, never ever believe these 264k EUR a year average, which - I know - have been published recently. They (UCI, ...) just try to improve reputation of the cycling world, to show an image as good as possible.

Sebastian Lang from Lotto, who stopped end 2010 or 2011, had 70.000 EUR a year, he was solid and a typical "average" rider, even good average.

FdJ, Vacansoleil, Euskaltel, Lampre, they will have masses of riders that don´t have much more than 50.000 a year.

Lang was a pathetic rider really, didn't show anything for the last 5-6 years he rode. I wouldn't really worry about Lampre or FdJ, their riders earn enough. Some Euskaltel domestiques might not make a lot of money, probably a bit above minimum even, but Sanchez is also near a million and Anton somewhere like 600,000 I believe. Again, they don't need income support.

Also, the 264k is coming from Earnst and Young. I don't really believe in conspiracies when a business like E&Y is involved, it wouldn't be good for their reputation.

 

[Arnout]

Yeah. And that's what you get when you win the biggest race in the world. It's just a joke, the way the money is distributed in cycling (or actually, it isn't distributed, it just all goes to the organizers)

The only organizer making money is ASO, and to be honest they aren't making a lot apart from the Tour (sadly they threw all their Tour money in the Dakar pit, which got stuck a few years ago).

All other organizers have a harder time than the cyclists getting their races organized (remember the Pais Vasco thing this year?).

 

[burning]

There's no such thing like stadiums for teams to make money and I doubt they sell that many jerseys like football teams, their money mainly comes from sponsors and that's sort of limited I guess

 

[DominicDecoco]

Why not? I appreciate what they do, but if it's not enough for them they should sod off frankly. 99% of population will make less than them.

No. There's not a single rider in the peloton that is paid enough.

 

[Arnout]

No. There's not a single rider in the peloton that is paid enough.

Well I'm not paid enough either.

 

[RHRH19861986]

I wouldn't really worry about Lampre or FdJ, their riders earn enough. Some Euskaltel domestiques might not make a lot of money, probably a bit above minimum even, but Sanchez is also near a million and Anton somewhere like 600,000 I believe. Again, they don't need income support.

Agree with Euskaltel, but concerning Lampre, for example, I suppose their Vitaliy Buts won´t have more than 30.000 a year. He has 5-10 Ukrainians behind him, people like Pidgorniy, who´d love to replace him, not to earn big money, just to ride on a high pro level again.

What I find great is that money seems not to everything for even the top pros. Gilbert, who has been so hungry between 2003 and 2011, got rewarded by BMC for performance he delivered in these past years, and now seems to have lost hunger, because he´s won much and enough money for his future life - he seems to be an exception. TBH, he was the one who I had expected to be the exactly different guy than he proves to be now.

 

[RHRH19861986]

No. There's not a single rider in the peloton that is paid enough.

The life of someone who works 10 hrs a day for a building company or on the factory floor is a thousand times harder than the life of a cycling pro.

The life of a cycling pro doesn´t have anything to do with real life, with an average job. Their admittedly painful moments are rare, the kilometers in the really painful "red zone" won´t be more than 500 a year. The pain they face can´t be compared to the pain you have in other jobs. They don´t fear these pains, the motivation includes these pains, the pressure is a luxury problem for most of them.

Only the ones who stay helpers and maybe don´t have finished school/studies have reason to feel stressed from time to time. For the others, it´s paradise on earth, with a realisitc view.

 

[richtea]

Yeah. And that's what you get when you win the biggest race in the world. It's just a joke, the way the money is distributed in cycling (or actually, it isn't distributed, it just all goes to the organizers)

That's right, all that hard work should go completely unrewarded.

 

[jsem94]

The average may be 264K, but I want to see the median - that's way more important.

 

[DominicDecoco]

The life of someone who works 10 hrs a day for a building company or on the factory floor is a thousand times harder than the life of a cycling pro.

The life of a cycling pro doesn´t have anything to do with real life, with an average job. Their admittedly painful moments are rare, the kilometers in the really painful "red zone" won´t be more than 500 a year. The pain they face can´t be compared to the pain you have in other jobs. They don´t fear these pains, the motivation includes these pains, the pressure is a luxury problem for most of them.

Only the ones who stay helpers and maybe don´t have finished school/studies have reason to feel stressed from time to time. For the others, it´s paradise on earth, with a realisitc view.

This is like reading one of those; "You can't do it better than the riders in the peloton" arguments after criticizing a rider. No relevance at all.

 

[Dundee]

I know many riders in the World Tour earn in the $35 - $60k area. The $264K average is a misleading amount. It is a case of 20% of the Pro Tour Peloton earning 60% of the total.

I think a lot are underpaid in the World Tour, I know a lot in Pro Conti Teams ride for not a lot, go down to Conti and the majority ride for very little or just bike/kit/travel.

There are a lot of people that have cheap shots at cyclists, I for one love cycling and appreciate the work these athletes do to entertain me, 80% scrap a living off a very demanding sport for my entertainment - Thank you