Cycling - both men's and women's - has never had as much money as it does now, according to an analysis by Cyclingnews. This is despite the fact that the European economy is not having its best days and cycling remains a European-centric sport.
Last year, the average budget of World Tour teams was 25 million euros, in 2019 this figure was 18 million. According to the international governing body UCI, the average World Tour rider earns 501,000 euros per year, or nearly 42,000 euros per month. The first millionaire is expected to emerge in women's cycling, although some estimate that this has already happened.
According to UCI data, the 18 World Tour teams spent a total of 226.5 million euros on salaries last year, with an average of 12.6 million euros spent on salaries from the budget of one team (maximum limit 30 riders). The richest team, UAE Team Emirates XRG, contributed 27.3 million euros to salaries, and the most modest figure was held by Rein Taaramäe's former employer, Intermarché-Wanty, with 5.2 million.
This year, the numbers have risen as several stars have renewed their contracts. According to Cyclingnews, Tadej Pogačar, who won both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France last year and was crowned world champion, will earn 8 million instead of 6 million, and Remco Evenepoel's salary has increased from 2 million to 4.5-5 million. Jonas Vingegaard earns 5 million, Mathieu van der Poel 4 million, and Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič 3.5 million a year.
"Every team has at least two riders with a million-euro annual salary, some have seven or eight," said João Correia, Corso's management agent. He added that the teams have a total of 75-100 riders earning at least a million a year, and 30 men earning at least 2 million.
Alex Carera, a representative of A&J All Sports, adds: "We have 22 major clubs and there are on average three riders on each team who earn a million a year. So we have a total of about 65 riders with salaries of 65 million euros."
The average salary of 501,000 euros is raised by these same millionaires, while agents estimate the median salary to be between 250,000 and 300,000 per year.
