When searching for perspective in biking, Tao Geoghegan Hart is usually a great voice to show to. Just lately, as he met the media forward of the 2025 season, the dialog turned to the push for reform within the sport. The Lidl-Trek rider was largely in favour of evolution however cautioned that the established order isn’t as dangerous as some are making out. “I’ve pals in many various endurance sports activities, and there’s not 1,000 folks making an excellent residing [from those sports], however in biking there are. And it’s simple to neglect that,” the Londoner mentioned.
A part of the game’s millionaire membership, an ever-growing listing of riders whose annual wage is not less than a million euros, Geoghegan Hart’s feedback mirrored the fact on the bottom: skilled biking, women and men, has by no means been richer. Workforce budgets have risen exponentially – the median amongst males’s WorldTour groups in 2024 was €25m, up from €18m in 2019 – and the typical male rider wage, in accordance with the UCI’s official figures offered on the WorldTour seminar in late November, stands at €501,000. Within the ladies’s peloton, it gained’t be lengthy earlier than a rider(s) joins the millionaire membership – and a few suppose that watermark has already been breached.
We wished to dig just a little deeper into the numbers and the developments to seek out out simply how worthwhile a profession as a professional bike owner actually is in 2025.
Increasingly more seven determine salaries
In an official UCI doc seen by Cyclingnews, the 18 males’s WorldTour groups collectively spent €226.5m on rider salaries in 2024, with groups spending on common €12.6m on their most quota of 30 riders. One group, considered UAE Workforce Emirates XRG, had an outlay of €27.3m on salaries, and on the backside finish of the dimensions, assumed to be Intermarché-Wanty, complete salaries amounted to €5.2m.
In 2025, that determine has risen additional, with a number of superstars enhancing their contracts considerably: Cyclingnews has been in a position to affirm that Tadej Pogačar’s wage has grown from round €6m to north of €8m, whereas Remco Evenepoel’s earlier wage of round €2m (excluding bonuses) has swelled to between €4.5 and €5m. Jonas Vingegaard earns round €5m, Mathieu van der Poel €4m, and each Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič pocket €3.5m from their respective groups yearly. They’re on the high finish of the incomes charts, however annually extra riders be a part of the millionaire ranks.
“Each group has, at a minimal, two riders on one million – some even have seven to eight,” agent João Correia, who runs the Corso administration firm, mentioned. “If you happen to undergo every group’s roster and rapidly add that up, I think about there’s 75-100 on not less than million euro contracts. There’s positively 50, on the very least.” Of these surpassing the 2 million benchmark, Correia speculates there are greater than 30.
His counterpart, Alex Carera of A&J All Sports activities, shares the identical thought: “There are 22 huge groups, and I’d say the median is three riders incomes one million per group. So there are kind of 65 riders on one million or extra,” the Italian mentioned. Different brokers estimated 70.
The typical wage of €500,000 is bloated by the millionaires – that’s not a real illustration of what the standard domestique earns. Cyclingnews spoke with six brokers and the overall consensus amongst them was that the median wage is between €250,000 and €300,000.
“Groups are realising that it’s not sufficient to have two or three star riders after which simply fill the remainder of the group with whoever else – you additionally want an excellent midfield, whether or not that’s a leadout prepare for a sprinter or climbers for a GC chief. And that’s working within the favour of these mid-ranking riders as a result of it prices increasingly more to signal them,” mentioned Dries Smets, a Belgian agent for Wasserman.
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Traditionally, neo-pros – first 12 months seniors – can be put straight on a minimal wage: in 2025, that determine for self-employed riders (defined beneath) within the males’s WorldTour is €58,582, and €35,721 for employed riders; these quantities respectively rise to €72,404 and €44,150 for non-neo-pros.
The youth revolution, nonetheless, has upended the rulebook – even when there are nonetheless many on round €80,000 contracts. “Previously, neo-pros signed for the minimal contract, however biking’s modified. The very best neo-pros, those who win Tour de l’Avenir or the World Championships, can now earn between €150,000 and €500,000,” Carera mentioned. Cyclingnews is conscious of some neo-pros incomes considerably greater than half-a-million.
One agent added: “Till Covid, if a neo-pro managed to stand up to €100,000, it was thought of loads, however these days, and particularly within the final two or three years, younger and really gifted riders are very wanted available on the market and might go as excessive as €200,000. That’s triple the minimal wage.”
On the broader topic of minimal wage, all brokers agreed that only a few riders had been on minimal contracts. “I haven’t seen plenty of groups paying minimal wages for riders for a very long time as a result of it’s exhausting for riders to reside on that wage,” Correia mentioned.
Biking’s gender pay hole
When trying on the ladies’s peloton, the story is considerably totally different: minimal wages are way more widespread. “There aren’t many males on minimal wage, however there are many ladies,” Carera mentioned. Solely launched in 2020 with a minimal wage of €15,000, Ladies’s WorldTour riders now should earn a minimal of €62,320 in the event that they’re self-employed, and €38,000 in the event that they’re contracted. The quantities for neo-pros drop to €52,000 and €31,768, respectively.
The median group price range of the 15 ladies’s WorldTour groups is €3.6m, Cyclingnews understands, with groups usually averaging a roster of 17-18 riders. Nearly all of riders within the ladies’s discipline earn between €80,000 to €100,000, with extra essential domestiques and occasional race winners incomes between €150,000 and €250,000. A top-10 rider takes dwelling between €300,000 and €500,000, with the largest champions nudging in the direction of €850,000.
When Vollering, extensively considered the perfect present feminine GC rider, introduced that she was leaving SD Worx final spring, there have been numerous studies that UAE Workforce ADQ had tabled a proposal to make the Dutchwoman the primary feminine rider to earn an annual wage of €1m. Vollering as a substitute went to FDJ-Suez.
Among the many numerous brokers Cyclingnews spoke to, there was disagreement over the salaries of the present highest feminine earners. “I believe we’re already seeing million euro contracts within the ladies’s discipline – I imagine that’s been damaged,” Correia mentioned. “We don’t signify any of them, however I’m pretty positive two or three of ladies earn over one million. And if not, they’re fairly rattling near it.” Different brokers, nonetheless, dismissed Correia’s perception. “I don’t suppose there’s three that make over €1m,” one mentioned. “I believe they’re slightly below that mark.” Carrera mentioned: “In two or three years, for positive we’ll see ladies on over a million, however proper now they’re not incomes that.”
As a rule of thumb, the upper the wage, the much less a rider’s win bonus. There are outliers, although: Evenepoel acquired huge profitable bonuses from Soudal Fast-Step for profitable his world and Olympic titles, in addition to the 2022 Vuelta a España, whereas Cyclingnews understands that Tom Pidcock earned €1m for every WorldTour race or Olympic or world title victory when competing for Ineos Grenadiers.
Most riders can anticipate to obtain between just a few thousand euros and €15,000 in the event that they win a stage of a WorldTour race, rising to €20,000-€100,000 for a Grand Tour stage, and €50k to €500,000 for profitable a Monument, relying on the group and rider’s base wage. French groups pay out an enormous bonus for the French Nationwide Championships. However not everybody will be so fortunate. “There are groups who say we do not give bonuses as a result of riders receives a commission to race and rating outcomes,” Smets mentioned. “Large title riders particularly are on good salaries and may not get a bonus for a race that they’d be anticipated to do effectively in.”
Efficiency-related bonuses are widespread for youthful riders and might work in numerous methods, Correia defined: “Various contracts have wage triggers, whereby if an athlete does this efficiency their wage improves. And these days with UCI factors extra essential, we’re seeing riders get rewarded primarily based on what number of UCI factors they’ve earned.”
Sometimes, a group will completely personal the picture rights of a rider, however exceptions will be made for sure riders who search exterior sponsorships. “There’s a much bigger battle between male riders and their groups over non-team sponsors, however in feminine biking, it’s gaining popularity,” Smets mentioned. “There’s much less historical past, and groups are extra open to considering: if it is good for the rider and would not harm the group, why not?”
Demi Vollering signed a private sponsorship take care of Nike final 12 months, whereas the likes of Van Aert and Pidcock are each individually sponsored by Pink Bull. Some riders have watch or automobile offers that may exceed €100,000, and others have partnerships with home companies which can be normally price between €20,000 and €30,000.
“It’s very country-specific,” defined Correia. “A Belgian rider has extra sponsorship alternatives as a result of they’re biking mad, despite the fact that Belgium’s promoting market isn’t enormous, whereas Pidcock being British has extra alternatives than riders from small international locations do. Some marquee riders can negotiate phrases on picture rights with their groups, however normally groups personal the picture rights and might say sure or no to those endorsements. Normally they’ll say sure if it’s a nationwide firm and isn’t a competitor to the group’s personal sponsors.” Most riders have private offers with shoe manufacturers that present just a few free pairs of sneakers, however some riders may obtain just a few thousand euros on high. “The very best riders will obtain €50,000 or extra for a shoe deal,” one agent mentioned.
Riders can typically make extra cash competing in end-of-season and/or post-Tour de France criteriums in Belgium and the Netherlands, however due to the extra journey concerned, look charges are at a premium. “To take part in a single crit is minimal €100,000 for the perfect riders,” one mentioned.
The place a rider (and their group) can actually earn huge cash is that if huge races pay for his or her participation. RCS, the organisers of the Giro d’Italia, has a protracted historical past of paying look charges, and reportedly handed Bora-hansgrohe a cheque of €1m for Peter Sagan race the 2020 version of the Corsa Rosa. In addition they dedicated to paying Soudal Fast-Step for Remco Evenepoel’s involvement in 2023 however didn’t pay out, in accordance with the group’s boss Patrick Lefevere. “As a result of Remco didn’t end the Giro, they [RCS] didn’t wish to pay the agreed beginning price,” Lefevere mentioned. “Remco’s beginning cash within the Giro – in follow a sum for a bundle of RCS races – can make sure that we’ve got a price range for an additional rider.”
Agent charges, self-employed riders and annual go away
The construction of a rider contract varies from group to group, with Smets revealing that “some groups have the usual UCI contract of seven pages which doesn’t include a lot difficult language, to some groups who’ve 45-page contracts that are extra advanced and have much more clauses.” One necessary inclusion is that groups can not object to their riders starting or persevering with learning.
French and Belgian groups by regulation should make use of their riders, accounting for round 40% of the lads’s peloton. In an employed contract, groups should present well being, life and everlasting incapacity insurance coverage, and a pension that equates to a minimal of 12% of the gross annual wage. Self-employed riders should cowl the entire above themselves. Brokers usually take between 5-7.5% in fee of all rider earnings.
Of the varied clauses and obligations, if a rider is injured or falls in poor health by way of no fault of their very own, they’re entitled to 100% of their wages for the primary three months, lowered to 50% thereafter. “However I’ve by no means seen that enforced,” Correia acknowledged. “And both manner, there are insurance coverage insurance policies athletes can take out that cowl them within the occasion that they get injured and so they lose a part of their wage.” Riders are additionally permitted 35 days of annual go away per 12 months, however Correia mentioned that “nobody actually appears to be like at that, both. It’s in each contract however it’s not monitored. Riders solely go on trip within the low season.”
Most contracts embody a clause prohibiting riders from participating in sports activities which can be deemed harmful, similar to automobile racing, parachuting or snowboarding; groups have begun to loosen the final regulation, although, with cross-country snowboarding and ski mountaineering extra accepted as helpful cross-training.
As discussions over One Biking proceed apace, and the game hopes to proceed attracting extra funding, that’s all excellent news for the protagonists and people representing them. “When a group’s price range grows, so too does the rider’s wage,” Smets mentioned. “After all, the groups have service programs and automobiles, however their actual property are the riders. We’ve seen an enormous improve in price range since Covid and it appears to be like more likely to proceed.”
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