Tomorrow sees the start of the Tour de France which will see 23 teams consisting of 8 riders each trying to reach Paris on the 27th July. This is the premier cycling event on the calendar each year generating an estimated €24 billion from television and other media sources. The event is screened in 190 countries around the world and is a sponsors dream having roughly 110 hours of live coverage.
The riders will have to cover 3,337 kilometers / 2,074 miles and not all will make it. Anywhere between 20 and 25% will not make it with the average around the 35-40 number of riders dropping out to illness or injury.
What is interesting to note is the prize money remains the same as last year with the prize pool being €2.3 million. This is a team sport with the yellow jersey holder getting all the glory but all prize money earned is shared amongst the team members including back room staff. The 7 riders on the team sacrifice their own final standings in the overall classification for the leader of the team.
The overall winner receives €500K which is nearly 25% of the total prize pool with the second placed finisher earning €200K. This prize money drops in overall finishing classifications with anyone out of the top 20 earning €1000. Does not sound like much money for 3 weeks work of effort, but there is prize money offered on each stage and this over 21 days can be significant depending on how the other riders in your team do.
The cyclists do not necessarily need the money so no need felling sorry for them as a top cyclist can earn between €200K - €6 million (Tadej Pogačar) which is just the salary alone and is not including sponsorship endorsements and performance bonuses. The earnings the team makes from the Tour de France is just a bonus on top of what they already are earning. Last year team UAE took home €806,810 which included the overall individual (yellow jersey) win, the team winning the team prize plus all the stage wins. There would be more money coming from sponsors paying bonus performances for the team so this number could well be over €1 million for the 3 week event.
Sponsorships funding the teams is big business and a team challenging for the podium would cost around €20 million. Not every team has these types of budgets so there real hope is to challenge for stage wins and take each stage as it comes looking for any opportunity to earn prize money.
This year the favorites are still the same two who finished first and second in 2024 being Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard with a couple of outsiders who may or may not have a chance. I don't think anyone comes close to Pogačar and expect him to win this event comfortably as long as he can remain injury free.
I was never a big cycling fan, but really enjoy these events now that the officials have clamped down on doping. I am sure it is still happening behind the scenes some how staying ahead of the doping technology but even still you need to be a super athlete to perform at these levels for 21 days with only 2 rest days separating week 2 and week 3.