Tour de France 2019 prize money — How much do riders & teams earn in cash?
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The Tour de France is one of the world's toughest endurance events; when it comes to collecting their prize money after 3 weeks riding, riders are reminded of just how tough their sport really is.
Being a professional cyclist is difficult when you consider how much footballers earn for playing, what golfers pocket from their majors, or how much tennis players win at grand slams.
While many footballers earn enough in a month to fund entire cycling teams for a season – those at UCI Continental level – the highest level in cycling — remain relatively poorly rewarded.
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Novak Djokovic won the men's singles at Wimbledon & got £2.25 million for a mere 17 hrs 53 mins of court time = £125,000 an hour. In stark contrast, this year's TDF winner will earn €500,000 in prize money, or around £447,755, for cycling 3,480 kilometres (2,162 miles) over a gruelling 3-week period, a minimum of 60 hours of road-race time = £7,000 an hour (less than 6% of Novak)
But tradition dictates that the winner fork over his winnings to team-mates in recognition of their hard work, winning the fabled yellow jersey really means earning less than £1,000 per hour rode.
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The total pot of prize money handed out at this year's Tour is worth €2,291,700 and while the eventual winner takes the lion's share, there are plenty of other ways of earning a few extra euros.
Winners of the green & polka dot jerseys – in the points & mountains classifications, respectively – will each win €25,000 while the white jersey of the young classification takes home €20,000.
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In addition to what is handed out in Paris, the leader in general classification throughout the race also earns €500 for each day spent in the yellow jersey, while the other jerseys holders get €300.
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During each stage, too, there is money on offer at the intermediate sprints (€1,500, €1,000 and €500), while the top 14 finishers in each road stage or individual time trial wins €11,000, €5,500, €2,800, €1,500, €830, €780, €730, €670, €650, €600, €540, €470, €440 and €340 respectively while those that finish 15th-20th get €300.
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The first rider over each categorised climb can boost their earnings too – €800 for hors catégorie, €650 for category one, €500 for category two, €300 for category three and €200 for category four. However, the biggest bonuses in the mountains are the Souvenirs Jacques Goddet and Henri Desgrange– the prizes handed to the first rider over the summits of the col du Tourmalet (stage 14) and col de l'Iseran (stage 19) – which are worth €5,000 each.
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Whoever wins the daily combativity award during each road stage gets €2,000 each day while the overall ‘super combativity’ prize winner pockets for himself €20,000.
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Prize money per stage at the 2019 Tour de France
Position: Prize money (€)
1: 11,000
2: 5,500
3: 2,800
4: 1,500
5: 830
6: 780
7: 730
8: 670
9: 650
10: 600
11: 540
12: 470
13: 440
14: 340
15: 300
16: 300
17: 300
18: 300
19: 300
20: 300
Daily prize money: €28,650
TOTAL: €601,650
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Prize money from the other classifications at the Tour de France
Position,
Points prize money (€)
Mountains prize money
Young-Rider prize money
Teams prize money
1,
25,000
25,000
20,000
50,000
2,
15,000
15,000
15,000
30,000
3,
10,000
10,000
10,000
20,000
4,
4,000
4,000
5,000
12,000
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TOTAL
Points prize money: €65,000
Mountains prize money: €65,000
Young-Rider prize money: €50,000
Teams prize money: €120,000