New professional cyclist Caleb Ewan has been flagged as one "to watch" as a contender for Australia's list of highest paid sports stars by the Fairfax Media site BRW.com.au ('Business Review Weekly') in its Top 50 sports earners for last year.
In the latest list, the only cyclist who made the top 50 was 2011 Tour de France champion Cadel Evans (BMC) who retired at age 37 after placing fifth in the his eponymous Great Ocean Road Race at Geelong, Victoria in Australia on February 1.
BRW.com had Evans pegged 23rd from the 50 athletes whose accumulated earnings for the year were AUD 164 million and "included on-field and endorsements earnings".
Evans, estimated as having earned AUD 2.5 million last year, was the only cyclist in the top 50.
However, 20-year-old Ewan, who is in his first year as a professional with the Orica-GreenEdge team, was named as among "ones to watch for" as those Australian athletes who are "set for big paydays" in the years to come.
With Ewan are Nick Kyrgios (tennis) who made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, Minjee Lee (golf) who at age 18 is already the 68th best female player in the world; Tyler Wright (surfing) who is set to break the $1 million earnings mark, and Massimo Luongo (soccer) who starred for the Socceroos in their Asian Cup victory.
The highest earning athlete was NBA basketball star Andrew Bogut on A$16.2m
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The BRW top 50 is:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
#
Name (Sport)
Income (AUD millions)
1
Andrew Bogut (basketball)
16.2
2
Adam Scott (golf )
15.5
3
Jason Day (golf)
10.65
4
Marcos Ambrose (motor racing)
5.68
5
Tim Cahill (soccer)
5.5
6
Grant Balfour (baseball)
5.18
7
Patrick Mills (basketball)
4.61
8
Shane Watson (cricket)
4.5
9
Dante Exum (basketball)
4.34
10
Mitchell Johnson (cricket
4.1
11
Michael Clarke (cricket)
4.0
12
David Warner (cricket)
3.8
13
John Senden (golf)
3.43
14
Steve Smith (cricket)
3.10
15
Marc Leishman (golf)
3.07
16
Mile Jedinak (soccer)
3.0
17
Brett Holman (soccer
3.0
18
James Faulkner (cricket)
2.8
19
Mick Fanning (surfing)
2.7
20
Aron Baynes (basketball)
2.7
21
Daniel Ricciardo (motor racing)
2.6
22
Ryan McGowan (soccer)
2.5
23
Cadel Evans (cycling)
2.5
24
Brad Haddin (cricket)
2.5
25
Glenn Maxwell (cricket)
2.4
26
Matt Jones (golf)
2.31
27
Mitchell Starc (cricket)
2.2
28
Geoff Ogilvy (golf)
2.17
29
Steven Bowditch (golf)
2.8
30
Julian Wilson (surfing)
2.0
31
Mark Bresciano (soccer)
2.0
32
Mark Webber (motor racing)
2.0
33
Craig Lowndes (motor racing)
2.0
34
Joel Parkinson (surfing)
1.8
35
James Courtney (motor racing)
1.8
36
George Bailey (cricket)
1.8
37
Aaron Finch (cricket)
1.8
38
Stuart Appleby (golf)
1.77
39
Stephanie Gilmore (surfing)
1.75
40
Jamie Whincup (motor racing)
1.6
41
Taj Burrow (surfing)
1.5
42
Josh Kerr (surfing)
1.5
43
Israel Folau (rugby union)
1.5
44
Will Power (motor racing)
1.5
45
Brett Lee (cricket)
1.5
46
Alex Leapai (boxing)
1.5
47
Gary Ablett (Australian Rules Football)
1.5
48
Zac Purton (horse racing)
1.4
49
Michael Hussey (cricket)
1.4
50
Karrie Webb (golf)
1.28
Rupert Guinness is a sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media)
Rupert Guinness first wrote on cycling at the 1984 Victorian road titles in Australia from the finish line on a blustery and cold hilltop with a few dozen supporters. But since 1987, he has covered 26 Tours de France, as well as numerous editions of the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana, classics, world track and road titles and other races around the world, plus four Olympic Games (1992, 2000, 2008, 2012). He lived in Belgium and France from 1987 to 1995 writing for Winning Magazine and VeloNews, but now lives in Sydney as a sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media) and contributor to Cyclingnews and select publications.
An author of 13 books, most of them on cycling, he can be seen in a Hawaiian shirt enjoying a drop of French rosé between competing in Ironman triathlons.
