Tour of California prizemoney

[MadBarry]

Saw Michael Rogers with the giant cheque with the prizemoney.......you would think the organisers would be embarrassed to present it. It was for $21,000. The same weekend an Aussie kid won a golf tournament and the news said he was $1.4m richer. I cannot even begin to fathom why there should be such a disparity in earnings.

 

[Moondance]

Saw Michael Rogers with the giant cheque with the prizemoney.......you would think the organisers would be embarrassed to present it. It was for $21,000. The same weekend an Aussie kid won a golf tournament and the news said he was $1.4m richer. I cannot even begin to fathom why there should be such a disparity in earnings.

Well two things.

First of all, cyclists, as members of a team, get paid a salary, golfers don't. Obviously many golfers have sponsorhip deals that net them far more money than even the richest tournament prize pools do, but that is neither here nor there. Just because corporations see far more benefit in paying a golfer millions, or paying a tournament millions to give (in part) to the players themselves is not the fault of the ToC organizers.

Secondly, given that the Tour of California probably doesn't generate a whole lot of revenue (or at least I don't see how they were able to turn a profit this year after paying off the whole sports media to not write up how ridiculous is it for the ToC to be considered a 4th GT) a $21k bonus for the winner is, in my eyes, pretty decent. Cycling isn't, and has never been, a wealthy sport you know.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That's just the money for the overall win. What about the cheques he will get for individual stage placings, and his cut of the team earnings?

 

[MadBarry]

My point is that I would not have presented a giant cheque like it was a big deal. Sometime soon we need to accept that these pro cyclists are superstars with a short time at the top. I think another zero on the cheque may be a bit more like it.

 

[MadBarry]

That is a joke. Maybe another $5k if lucky. Remember that $21k just has to be shared amongst the team. Peanuts.

 

[rgmerk]

Secondly, given that the Tour of California probably doesn't generate a whole lot of revenue (or at least I don't see how they were able to turn a profit this year after paying off the whole sports media to not write up how ridiculous is it for the ToC to be considered a 4th GT) a $21k bonus for the winner is, in my eyes, pretty decent. Cycling isn't, and has never been, a wealthy sport you know.

There's two issues here -

1) is $21,000 an appropriate amount of prizemoney for the winner.
2) did it make sense to make the cheque a prominent part of the presentation.

On question 1, I'd expect the prizemoney is almost irrelevant compared to the commercial exposure that Columbia-HTC got with Rogers winning the tour.

On question 2, handing over a ceremonial cheque with such a piddling amount of money for the overall winner makes the event look rather small-time. A distinctive trophy would look a lot better on TV.

 

[hector5950]

My point is that I would not have presented a giant cheque like it was a big deal. Sometime soon we need to accept that these pro cyclists are superstars with a short time at the top. I think another zero on the cheque may be a bit more like it.

I am sure the organizers would be happy if you were willing to send them $200K USD to present to the winner next year.

 

[Moondance]

There's two issues here -

1) is $21,000 an appropriate amount of prizemoney for the winner.
2) did it make sense to make the cheque a prominent part of the presentation.

On question 1, I'd expect the prizemoney is almost irrelevant compared to the commercial exposure that Columbia-HTC got with Rogers winning the tour.

On question 2, handing over a ceremonial cheque with such a piddling amount of money for the overall winner makes the event look rather small-time. A distinctive trophy would look a lot better on TV.

Hey, if you've got a bunch of 'piddling' $21k cheques lying around, I'll happily accept them.

If the 'exposure' that Columbia & HTC got is worth so much to them, then it is up to Bob Stapleton yo go to them and demand more money from them to continue the sponsorship. That'll allow him to pay his employees more. Because that's what Rogers and Cavendish & Co. are. They're Bob Stapleton's employees, and Stapleton gets that money from Columbia and HTC and Scott and some other 'lesser' sponsors. If Rogers is unhappy about how much he gets paid, then I suggest he tries seeing how much Katusha or Astana or BMC might pay him.

 

[bobbins]

That's a low amount for the worlds 2nd greatest grand tour. Surely some mistake???

 

[Jux1893]

That's a low amount for the worlds 2nd greatest grand tour. Surely some mistake???

LOL, such a booooooooring race.

I'm not sure what kind of cycling you're used to watch, but it was hardly a tour. Should try and see one of this weeks stages in the Giro.

 

[Andrichuk]

LOL, such a booooooooring race.

I'm not sure what kind of cycling you're used to watch, but it was hardly a tour. Should try and see one of this weeks stages in the Giro.

so much fail in this comment

 

[Kender]

That's a low amount for the worlds 2nd greatest grand tour. Surely some mistake???

i lol'd

LOL, such a booooooooring race.

I'm not sure what kind of cycling you're used to watch, but it was hardly a tour. Should try and see one of this weeks stages in the Giro.

i lol'd harder

 

[SpartacusRox]

LOL, such a booooooooring race.

I'm not sure what kind of cycling you're used to watch, but it was hardly a tour. Should try and see one of this weeks stages in the Giro.

Hardly an important GT, but also hardly boring, try taking your head out of your **** for a minute

 

[LastRide]

Saw Michael Rogers with the giant cheque with the prizemoney.......you would think the organisers would be embarrassed to present it. It was for $21,000. The same weekend an Aussie kid won a golf tournament and the news said he was $1.4m richer. I cannot even begin to fathom why there should be such a disparity in earnings.

Agreed, seeing that those cheques probably cost $300-$500 its a bit of a hoax to hand out $21k. Hells teeth! Some crits in the USA get you more than that in a little over an hour.

 

[MWRoadie]

What was the ToC budget?

What was the total budget for that race, anyone know? Where did it go? Just how much daily stipend do those teams get?

 

[broken chain]

C'mon fellas,21000 can buy a ton of bag and needles.