Series (1/23). On the occasion of the Tour de France 2025 beginner on July 5, questions arise. Can a cyclist live properly? Does the Tour bring a lot of money to runners? We tell you everything.
A salary as exorbitant as professional footballers? Not really. The functioning of cyclists’ income is a bit special and remuneration differences are important. The remuneration of the Tour de France are also very specific.
Cyclists receive bonuses during the Tour of 300 to 500,000 €. The winner of the yellow jersey wins the biggest final bonus (€ 500,000) while the last in the race affects € 1,000 at the end of the Tour de France.
Each step brings money for the first twenty, ranging from € 300 between the 15the et 20e stage, € 11,000 for the winner. There are other bonuses for the detention of the various jerseys (yellow jersey, with dots € 25,000, green € 25,000, white € 20,000), as well as for the best team in the competition € 50,000.
Sponsors, essential actors in cyclists salaries
Who says cycling, says sponsors. Runners sign contracts with brands like Cofidis, AG2R Citroën and Groupama-FDJ who actively support this sport. These sponsorship agreements make it possible to complete the salaries of cyclists.
Two main categories
There are two levels of professional cycling the Proteam and the WorldTour. All the major cycling competitions (Tour de France, Tour d’Italie, Dauphinée Libéré), are reserved for the Premier Division WorldTour runners.
Proteam corresponds to the second division, cyclists therefore affect less, and do not have access directly to the big races, unless invitations. Their minimum wages amounts to € 32,000 per year. As for first division runners, it is around € 44,000 per year minimum.
In short, the salary of a cyclist varies enormously. Tadej Pogačar, star of the UAE Emirates team and holding the title of the Tour de France, occupies the first place in the ranking of the best paid cyclists in 2024 with a salary of 8 million euros per year. An average professional runner would be more around 100,000 € per year, which remains a nice sum.
