Tour de France only handed out €400k in prize money so far: Pogacar, Van der Poel and Visma are faring best (if you can call it that)

Compared to sports like football, basketball or tennis, cycling is miles behind in terms of earnings. Sure, top riders earn big salaries from their teams, but racing the biggest cycling event of the year isn’t making any team rich. In fact, Visma | Lease a Bike team boss Richard Plugge recently admitted that, at the end of the day, most teams actually lose money by being in the Tour.

What that looks like on paper? Well, prize money is awarded for results in the stages, time in leader jerseys, and other achievements. UAE Team Emirates-XRG is currently doing the best (or rather, losing the least), with 51,560 euros earned so far. This is mainly thanks to Tadej Pogacar’s two stage wins and several days wearing the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys. The Slovenian leader has been at the front almost every day during this punchy first week.

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Visma | Lease a Bike sits in second place after ten days, thanks in part to Simon Yates' stage 10 win. The Dutch squad hasn’t worn yellow, green or polka dots so far, but Jonas Vingegaard has consistently finished near the top. That’s brought their total to 47,130 euros. Alpecin-Deceuninck rounds out the top three, with stage wins by Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, both of whom wore the yellow jersey and Philipsen the green jersey for a day. Their tally stands at 41,700 euros.

That’s it for the teams that will have something meaningful to divvy up among their eight riders and all the staff once they reach Paris. Beyond fourth-place Lidl-Trek (39,620 euros), fifth-place Soudal-Quick Step (39,020 euros), and EF Education-EasyPost - the team of new yellow jersey wearer Ben Healy (25,080 euros) - there’s a massive drop-off. At the very bottom of the list is Lotto, with just 4,730 euros earned so far. XDS Astana hasn’t done much better either, sitting at 4,920 euros.

1. UAE TEAM EMIRATES-XRG - 51,560.00 euros
2. TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE - 47,130.00 euros
3. ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK - 41,700.00 euros
4. LIDL-TREK - 39,620.00 euros
5. SOUDAL-QUICK STEP - 39,020.00 euros

6. EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST - 25,080.00 euros
7. TEAM PICNIC POSTNL - 14,050.00 euros
8. TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM - 12,550.00 euros
9. UNO-X MOBILITY - 12,130.00 euros
10. BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS - 11,010.00 euros

11. GROUPAMA-FDJ - 10,450.00 euros
12. DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE - 9,160.00 euros
13. INTERMARCHÉ-WANTY - 9,160.00 euros
14. TOTALENERGIES - 9,120.00 euros
15. ARKEA-B&B HOTELS - 9,060.00 euros

16. INEOS GRENADIERS - 8,490.00 euros
17. RED BUL-BORA-HANSGROHE - 7,940.00 euros
18. COFIDIS - 6,670.00 euros
19. MOVISTAR TEAM - 5,750.00 euros
20. TEAM JAYCO ALULA - 5,290.00 euros

21. ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH - 5,160.00 euros
22. XDS ASTANA TEAM - 4,920.00 euros
23. LOTTO - 4,730.00 euros