There's over €2 million up for grabs this July, and plenty of ways to earn a slice of it
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While the jerseys of the Tour de France, such as the famous yellow overall leader's jersey, may be the most visible of the prizes on offer during the Grand Tour, there's plenty more up for grabs in July.
Riders will spend the three weeks battling it out for the yellow, green, polka dot, and white jerseys, as well as several minor competitions. But there's also over €2 million up for grabs throughout the race, spread across the numerous competitions.
To be precise, the prize pot totals €2,301,200 at this year's race, to be doled out among the jersey competitions, stage winners, team classification, and the most aggressive riders.
By far the biggest portion of this pot – almost half – goes to the GC race for the yellow jersey. All riders finishing in Paris will take home at least €1,000, though the overall winner will receive €500,000.
Add to that the €200,000 and €100,000 for the remaining podium places and then the sharply descending awards on offer further down the ranking (only the top seven finishers win over €10,000) and the total prize money on offer for the GC battle amounts to €1,128,000, with the daily race leader also taking home €500 per day.
Daily prizes for the stage winners, runners-up, and in fact all the placings down to 20th (15th down take €500 each) total €601,650 through the race. Each stage winner is awarded €11,000, while second and third place each day get €5,500 and €2,800.
Rather than the other major jerseys, it's the team prize which is the next richest competition in the Tour with a total of €178,800 up for grabs, including €50,000, €30,000, and €20,000 for the top three.
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The top five teams take home cash, while the best team on each individual stage gets €2,800 – another €58,800 in the prize pot.
The race for the green points jersey sees prizes of €1,500, €1,000 and €500 for the first three over each intermediate sprint of the race. The leader each day takes home €300, while the top eight in Paris share out €65,000, with the top three in the competition winning €25,000, €15,000, and €10,000.
The mountain classification also hands out the same monetary rewards in Paris, though there's less money on the line along the way. A total of €36,550 is spread across the climbs of the race, with the first over HC-rated climbs taking €800 and the money diminishing to €200 for the leader over a fourth-category hill. The first man over the highest climb of the race (Cime de la Bonette on stage 19 at 2,802 metres) will win the Souvenir Henri Desgrange and take €5,000.
Like the green jersey holder, the daily polka dot jersey holder receives €300. The total prize pot for green is slightly larger though, at €128,000 compared to the polka dot jersey's €107,250.
The white young rider's jersey is next in line. The best under-25 rider on each stage grabs €500 and the leader each day takes €300. In Paris, €20,000 goes to the winner with second, third, and fourth in the competition also awarded for a grand total of €66,500 in the battle for white.
Last but not least, there's the combativity prize. On each road stage, the rider judged to be the most combative will earn €2,000, with the super-combatif award winner in Paris winning €20,000 for a total of €56,000 in the prize pot.
That all adds up to the headline figure of €2,301,200, then. It's some job to organise and spread the money around, and then it happens once again after its awarded.
Riders traditionally pool their prize money, with one rider in each team designated as accountant. A share of prize money is also given to the hard-working team staff.
Teams and sponsors also award special performance bonuses, but the amounts are rarely made public. Success in the Tour de France is rewarded by bigger and better contracts for the following seasons, with a Tour de France winner often set to earn between three and five million per season – among the richest contracts in the sport.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
