How much do the pro's get paid?

Berbatov

Just wondering. Now we all hear every day about much such and such footballer, rubgy player, racing driver earn.

But how much can a cycling pro expect to earn? I know it depends on placing in races, obviously ability etc, but just out of interest I'd like to know how much these get considering they're obvious dedication and no doubt hard work?

Captain Havoc

I think they mentioned today that LA gets $1-2mil mostly through endorsements. It's normal for a winning cyclist to share his winnings with the rest of his team as it is a team effort.

Here's a quick link I googled: http://caliradocyclist.blogspot.com/2007/03/but-where-does-meat-go.html

JacksonHeightsOwn

jerseyeire wrote: »

I think they mentioned today that LA gets $1-2mil mostly through endorsements. It's normal for a winning cyclist to share his winnings with the rest of his team as it is a team effort.

really? that never occured to me, in that case id even wipe Armstrongs arse for him

titan18

They were on about this today on eurosport I think.Think they said the minimum is €44,000 per year.Most of the money comes from sponsorship aswell.

Berbatov

jerseyeire wrote: »

I think they mentioned today that LA gets $1-2mil mostly through endorsements. It's normal for a winning cyclist to share his winnings with the rest of his team as it is a team effort.

That's all well and good for armstrong, but what about the other team members. Armstrong has a profile, due to his wins obviously, and therfore can get more than hs fair share from endorsements, but how much does the average (I use the term average loosely in this instance cause there mostly animals when it comes to cycling) guy get?

Berbatov

While 44k a year is decent money, compared to the average industrial wage, I'd have thought a professional sports person might earn more.

I realise cycling doesn't have the same profile as other sports, at least not here, but these guys must do serios training. Granted it's doing something they probably love but still...........

ROK ON

I would imagine that cycling is very poorly paid relative to many high profile pro sports.
In most sports pay is related to tv rights. This is pretty small in cyclin compared to soccer, golf, tennis and even rugby.
Cyclists are also relatively poorer in that the training is tougher and the season is pretty long.
For what the avg domestique on an avg team has to put up with 44k is a ****e wage IMO - so most do it for the love of cycling I would imagine.
Even rugby players with Connaught are paid better than this in the main, and they play very few times and are absolute rubbish.
However I guess the economics of cycling dictate that that is all these guys can earn. I would imagine that very few of the top cyclical teams are excessively profitable.

Captain Havoc

Well, the average pro sports players doesn't make above the industrial wage, you only get to hear about the ones that do.

Húrin

Berbatov wrote: »

While 44k a year is decent money, compared to the average industrial wage, I'd have thought a professional sports person might earn more.

I realise cycling doesn't have the same profile as other sports, at least not here, but these guys must do serios training. Granted it's doing something they probably love but still...........

Why should pro cyclists be paid much more than the average industrial wage?

-Chris-

jerseyeire wrote: »

Well, the average pro sports players doesn't make above the industrial wage, you only get to hear about the ones that do.

Yeah, but it seems a bit unfair that a top-flight performer like LA is paid a couple of mill when the equivelant in NBA basketball is probably Michael Jordan and the equivelant in golf is Tiger Woods. At their peak, they're probably both paid more per month as he gets per year.

greendom

Cycling is really suffering at the moment. The continual bad news stories with drugs is turning off potential sponsors, reducing income. This is being compounded by the fact that there hasn't been a major Italian and even more so French cycling superstar for a while now. These countries,along with Spain, are the real driving force behind cycling as a spectator sport.

-Chris-

greendom wrote: »

The continual bad news stories with drugs is turning off potential sponsors

And fans! Drugs are the reason I don't follow cycling any more.

At this stage I regard amateur cycling as a difficult hobby, and I consider pro cycling in the same league as WWE wrestling - I'm pretty sure it's fake.

Captain Havoc

I think it's a hard sport to follow also. Most people just see a load of cyclists pegging it around France, not understanding the various disciplines or tactics involved.

Captain Havoc

-Chris- wrote: »

And fans! Drugs are the reason I don't follow cycling any more.

At this stage I regard amateur cycling as a difficult hobby, and I consider pro cycling in the same league as WWE wrestling - I'm pretty sure it's fake.

I wouldn't say WWE fake but certainly back scratching goes on.

-Chris-

jerseyeire wrote: »

I think it's a hard sport to follow also. Most people just see a load of cyclists pegging it around France, not understanding the various disciplines or tactics involved.

You really only understand the discipline/tactic by participating in some way. It's only if you've got miles in your legs that you (think you) understand how hard something like the TdF must be.

But something is turning people off cycling - maybe it's the robotic prowess of the top cyclists, maybe it's the presumption of the influence of drugs.
It's the same with motorsport - Formula 1 gets lots of coverage, Touring Cars gets less. Mostly because F1 has proper personalities and people to root for, while TC is a little more anonymous.
You can quite clearly see the decline in audience numbers when the F1 champion has no charisma...

Whenever Wimbledon is on, you see more kids and adults out-and-about with tennis rackets. It used to be that whenever the Tour was on, you'd see more freds out-and-about too, but it doesn't seem to happen as much anymore.

I don't know what the exact cause is, but if they can't instill passion into the armchair cyclists, they lose the sponsors and consequently the pay packets shrink.

jerseyeire wrote: »

I wouldn't say WWE fake but certainly back scratching goes on.

Diarmuid

jerseyeire wrote: »

Well, the average pro sports players doesn't make above the industrial wage, you only get to hear about the ones that do.

There are 20 teams in the Premiere league. Say a squad of 15. That's 300 players, twice the size of the Tour de France start list. Those 300 earned an average basic wage of stg£676,000 per year in 2006. You'd have to go down to League Two (After Championship and League one) to get to a comparable wage

Why should pro cyclists be paid much more than the average industrial wage?

I'm not saying they should but I could understand why they would. Pretty much anyone can be trained to do most average industrial wage jobs. All the training in the world will not make 99+% of people able to do a pro cyclist's job.

In fairness though the reason they don't make better money is the general disillusion with doping in cycling, which is party/mostly their own fault.

Lumen

Cycling is a niche spectator sport. Almost no-one will pay to watch it.

Therefore, professional cyclists don't earn much.

Maybe we need an Assos tax.

zzzzzzzz

One of the commentators on a stage the other day mentioned that the average wage in the peloton was 190k. Not sure if that's sterling or euros and can't remember what station it was on.

I was pretty suprised that it was that high though.

waitforme

Source: Bloomberg.com

Tour de France Drug Scandals Cut Rider Pay as Sponsors Pull Out
[URL="javascript:togShareLinks('shr_v');"]Share[/URL] | [EMAIL="?Subject=Bloomberg%20news:%20%20Tour%20de%20France%20Drug%20Scandals%20Cut%20Rider%20Pay%20as%20Sponsors%20Pull%20Out%20&body=%20Tour%20de%20France%20Drug%20Scandals%20Cut%20Rider%20Pay%20as%20Sponsors%20Pull%20Out%20%0D%0A%0D%0A%20http%3A//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3Demail_en%26sid%3DaDtj96LsR3P0"]Email[/EMAIL] | Print | A A A


By Alex Duff
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Cedric Vasseur may have gotten out of professional cycling at just the right time.
Doping scandals have reduced the salaries of Tour de France riders by as much as one-third since he retired last year. Some will earn as little as 30,000 euros ($47,397) in 2008, he said.
``That's not enough,'' said Vasseur, 37, now president of the riders' union, Cyclistes Professionnels Associes. ``The Tour de France riders are like artists giving a concert: They give enjoyment to people, but they aren't treated like artists.''
Ordinary riders are bearing the brunt of the drug probes and suspensions that have prompted sponsors, including Deutsche Telekom AG, to withdraw about $40 million of financial backing. Race leader Michael Rasmussen was pulled out of last year's race for missing doping tests. Four more riders tested positive.
Because they cover as much as 35,000 kilometers (21,752 miles) in racing and training each year, according to Vasseur, some Tour de France riders are paid as little as 1.38 euros per mile pedaled. Some 180 riders started the 3,500-kilometer race that began two weeks ago and ends July 27 in Paris.
While top Tour riders like race leader Frank Schleck earn as much as 500,000 euros, the average cyclist's salary has dropped by about 30 percent to 70,000 euros since last year, said Daniel Malbranque, general secretary of the riders' union.

uberwolf

Lumen wrote: »

Cycling is a niche spectator sport.

I'm not sure.

north of quarter of a million people have traditionally lined the final col in the big days in the mountains in TdeF. It is the worlds largest annual sporting event by a large number of measures afaik despite all manner of other one off events claiming the same.

I'd agree though, there are obviously substantial difficulties converting that into money.

Lance had 28 mill in 2005 according to Forbes http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/9IR3.html

Which compares favourably with Beckham in the same year http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/RJGP.html

Lumen

uberwolf wrote: »

north of quarter of a million people have traditionally lined the final col in the big days in the mountains in TdeF....I'd agree though, there are obviously substantial difficulties converting that into money.

Ice cream vans. Lots of them.

ROK ON

AN important factor is how much tv companies pay to secure the rights of the big races.
I would imagine not a lot - for example isn't the TDF protected by French law that means as a national sporting icon it is available free to air??

Unless you get competitive bidding for the broadcastin rights to a large tv audience, then it is difficult for money to filter down to the ranks of the average domestique.

Maybe this will change in a few years if Team Sky get a credible team together that competes in the major classics and tours.

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

Ice cream vans. Lots of them.

Themed ice cream
Banana - overall GC
Mint - Points leader
Vanilla - Young rider
Strawberry ripple - KOM

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

Themed ice cream
Banana - overall GC
Mint - Points leader
Vanilla - Young rider
Strawberry ripple - KOM

LiveStrong - an empty old cone in a black sock.

zzzzzzzz

waitforme wrote: »

Source: Bloomberg.com

Tour de France Drug Scandals Cut Rider Pay as Sponsors Pull Out
[URL="javascript:togShareLinks('shr_v');"]Share[/URL] | [EMAIL="?Subject=Bloomberg%20news:%20%20Tour%20de%20France%20Drug%20Scandals%20Cut%20Rider%20Pay%20as%20Sponsors%20Pull%20Out%20&body=%20Tour%20de%20France%20Drug%20Scandals%20Cut%20Rider%20Pay%20as%20Sponsors%20Pull%20Out%20%0D%0A%0D%0A%20http%3A//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3Demail_en%26sid%3DaDtj96LsR3P0"]Email[/EMAIL] | Print | A A A


By Alex Duff
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Cedric Vasseur may have gotten out of professional cycling at just the right time.
Doping scandals have reduced the salaries of Tour de France riders by as much as one-third since he retired last year. Some will earn as little as 30,000 euros ($47,397) in 2008, he said.
``That's not enough,'' said Vasseur, 37, now president of the riders' union, Cyclistes Professionnels Associes. ``The Tour de France riders are like artists giving a concert: They give enjoyment to people, but they aren't treated like artists.''
Ordinary riders are bearing the brunt of the drug probes and suspensions that have prompted sponsors, including Deutsche Telekom AG, to withdraw about $40 million of financial backing. Race leader Michael Rasmussen was pulled out of last year's race for missing doping tests. Four more riders tested positive.
Because they cover as much as 35,000 kilometers (21,752 miles) in racing and training each year, according to Vasseur, some Tour de France riders are paid as little as 1.38 euros per mile pedaled. Some 180 riders started the 3,500-kilometer race that began two weeks ago and ends July 27 in Paris.
While top Tour riders like race leader Frank Schleck earn as much as 500,000 euros, the average cyclist's salary has dropped by about 30 percent to 70,000 euros since last year, said Daniel Malbranque, general secretary of the riders' union.

Interesting - I notice this article is from last year. how much does LA earn again??

uberwolf

right lads. Stay on topic.

Lumen

Diarmuid wrote: »

In fairness though the reason they don't make better money is the general disillusion with doping in cycling, which is partly/mostly their own fault.

It's certainly a great excuse for a cash-strapped sponsor. We are in a global recession after all.

Diarmuid

Lumen wrote: »

It's certainly a great excuse for a cash-strapped sponsor. We are in a global recession after all.

Personally speaking I don't want to see cycling go the way of other pro sports. I like the fact that you can watch it on terrestrial channels (in France), stand on the side of the road or even in the stands at the start of the stage and watch it, without forking out €40 for the pleasure. Granted that's a selfish attitude but hey...

scottreynolds

Diarmuid wrote: »

Personally speaking I don't want to see cycling go the way of other pro sports. I like the fact that you can watch it on terrestrial channels (in France), stand on the side of the road or even in the stands at the start of the stage and watch it, without forking out €40 for the pleasure. Granted that's a selfish attitude but hey...

Thats my point exactly as I was reading this thread. The ONLY way cycling earns money is in sponsorship for teams. The TV right money would generally go to the larger events only that in turn provide prize money. I'm pretty sure a team would s none of that.

Cycling doesn't have the global population watching like football etc. It really is a minor sport in pretty much every country outside of a few core european countries.

The drugs issues have really damaged the sport both in terms of sponsors and people watching. As I left work the other day lady said to me in the lift that she can't stand the cycling anymore cause they are all on drugs.

eggie

Cycling is pretty much like any other sport where your pay is linked somewhat to your ability to do the job.

A first year pro domestique would probably earn circa 40k, where as a seasoned pro like Hincapie, Chavanel, etc could expect to earn 200k plus. Other guys such as team leaders or joint leaders can expect even more, and the better you get the more endorsements you receive.

It is customary for the tour de france winner to give the prize money to his teammates approx 450k.
Stage wins are about 8k 1st, 4k 2nd, 2k 3rd.

There are prizes for KOM about 50k, approx 35k for green, etc.

LA earned a reported 10m bonus when he took his 6th TDF, got paid a reported 2m for entering the Giro, charges 200k for speaking, etc, etc, worth multiple millions.

ROK ON

Interesting the post above that mentioned the fall in salaries in past few years due to sponsor disenchantment etc.

I am wondering was the sport ever very well paid. I recall in Robert Millars book that he wanted to earn £1m - then he would retire. He did eventually earn that, but I cant recall was it accumulated earnings or in one year. However, when I read the book, it did seem to me that Millar was very well paid, particularly given that he raced in the 80's and 90's.

I get the impression he Kelly was very well paid - when he orininally was signed by (name escapes me), he haggled for a wage that was very high for a rookie pro. Was he actually well paid.
Whereas I never got that impression about Roche.
Also, some riders now are part owners of the teams they race for (David Millar?) - how does this come about, and is it in any way lucrative?

Berbatov

Húrin wrote: »

Why should pro cyclists be paid much more than the average industrial wage?

Hadn't thought much about 'why they should'. Was merely a comment to relate the level of pay with something.

From other posts since I am starting to understand why the level of pay is what it is. Just assumed (wrongly!) that because they were pro athletes that pay would more. If I think about it though, there are probably many disciplines of sport where full time pro's don't get paid huge amounts of money, I'm guessing the likes of swimming, track and field and the likes.

-Chris-

I always thought pro athletes were paid more than the industrial wage because their career is so short, and the reason some are paid so much is because of their ability to generate revenue for their team/sponsor.