# What is the salaries of pro cyclists ?



## lay (5 Aug 2013)

I've heard that it's much less than footballers ? - in comparison, that's pretty unfair considering the energy expenditure !


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## Tanis8472 (5 Aug 2013)

Some dont get paid (I think)


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## ianrauk (5 Aug 2013)

A nonsensical question, there is no comparison. You can't compare it by energy expenditure.
A lot of footballers in the lower leagues get paid far less then some cyclists.
What about other sports, Tennis, Cricket, Golf, F1, etc? Most of the professionals in those sports get paid way more then Cycling.


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## Noodley (5 Aug 2013)

I'm going to write to my MP.


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## PpPete (5 Aug 2013)

Noodley said:


> I'm going to write to my MP.


To complain about the grammar in the thread title ?


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## Milzy (5 Aug 2013)

It depends, people like Cav are Branded like Beckham. I like the AG2R lads but I'm sure they will be much lower paid than most other teams.


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## rich p (5 Aug 2013)

Noodley said:


> I'm going to write to my MP.


SMP?


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## rich p (5 Aug 2013)

Some riders are so poorly paid they can barely afford the pot belge these days


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## martint235 (5 Aug 2013)

User said:


> football is the most watched, played, popular game in the world, cycling isn't....although Wiggins is estimated to earn £3-£5 million with commercial interests, so not to shabby...


 
I thought fishing was the most popular sport???


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## albion (5 Aug 2013)

Like many a sport, once you hit the lower reaches salaries get stifled.
Outside of the top 100, our tennis players really do rely on LTA funding to be able to travel compete. 

Things are never fair so I can even see 2nd division football returning to part time profession.


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## Noodley (5 Aug 2013)

rich p said:


> SMP?


 
No point writing to a saddle, although probably just as much point as writing to a MP or MSP.


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## Noodley (5 Aug 2013)

martint235 said:


> I thought fishing was the most popular sport???


 
Nobbery on cycling forums is fast catching up tho.


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## rich p (5 Aug 2013)

Noodley said:


> No point writing to a saddle, although probably just as much point as writing to a MP or MSP.


PMSL?


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## martint235 (5 Aug 2013)

Noodley said:


> Nobbery on cycling forums is fast catching up tho.


Couldn't agree more.


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## gavintc (5 Aug 2013)

martint235 said:


> I thought fishing was the most popular sport???


 
Ah, that well respected sport; somewhat akin to the level of activity needed watching TV.


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## ufkacbln (5 Aug 2013)

Football is a poor comparison for most sports in that it has a system which allows a few teams to cream off the bilk of the monety, leaving the rest to struggle.

There is also the fact that many clubs run just ahead of bankruptcy paying unmanageable wage packets.


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## Mr Haematocrit (5 Aug 2013)

http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/athletes/mark-cavendish-net-worth/

http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/athletes/bradley-wiggins-net-worth/


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## lay (9 Aug 2013)

PpPete said:


> To complain about the grammar in the thread title ?


 

Innit'... LOL


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## J1780 (10 Aug 2013)

Mr Haematocrit said:


> http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/athletes/mark-cavendish-net-worth/
> 
> http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/athletes/bradley-wiggins-net-worth/


 
The article is from 2012 but I would have thought that Bradley Wiggins would have net worth of more more than 3 million.


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## Mr Haematocrit (10 Aug 2013)

J1780 said:


> The article is from 2012 but I would have thought that Bradley Wiggins would have net worth of more more than 3 million.


 

Im aware of the date of the article as would be anyone who reviewed the data. My intent was posting relevant figures and I selected Cav and Wiggo as they are both top of their game and popular on the forum.
I think this years earnings will be interesting as Cav has his money from his 'fst as fck' brand association with Specialized and Wiggo will have his Fred Perry shirts.. It will be interesting to see how endorsements impact their earnings compared to prize money imho.
I have no doubt though that Wiggo is by no means on the breadline.


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## J1780 (10 Aug 2013)

Mr Haematocrit said:


> Im aware of the date of the article as would be anyone who reviewed the data.


 
That wasn't my point at all the date of the piece is there for all to see in the first few lines. I meant that even though the article is from last year I would have thought Wiggins to be worth more than 3 million.


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## Mr Haematocrit (10 Aug 2013)

Ahh got you my eeeerrr


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## J1780 (10 Aug 2013)

My bad really I should have articulated myself better in the original post!


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## oldroadman (10 Aug 2013)

The wages vary a lot, as has been said. At the top end it's into 7 figures for a select few, and generally div. 1 riders are well looked after. Though compared with very average premier footy players, they earn in a week what the average domestique might need up to a year to make. Go doen the levels (compare div 2 - pro-conti) with championship footy and the proportions are not much different from the top, just lower maney. Getting below that there are some conti (div 3) teams that pay OK, some who pay a pittance, and under that at domestic level, most riders are a la musette (expenses and equipment only) any money coming from winnings, so that's a very hard life. Toughens them up if they make higher grades, though.
Compare that with footy again, even non-league teams pay players and managers quite well, although a few are part timers, like most domestic team riders.
Moral, if you are not a top star, cycling can give you a decent enough living for a while, but you won't make your fortune and when it's all done there had better be some other way to make money.


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## PhunkyPhil (13 Aug 2013)

Cycling is the most watched live sport but that's because it's free. If people paid to watch cycling then the wages would be higher like in other sports.

The biggest crime is that women tennis players get equal prize money..... Disgusting.


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## Froome with a view ! (24 Sep 2013)

But most pro footballers couldn't trap a bag of cement and are millionaires,even the ones that you have never heard of are seen pictured lying in bathtubs full of £50 notes.
All you have to do in modern football is score a goal or two, and bingo you have made it !


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## Archie_tect (24 Sep 2013)

User said:


> so the fishing web sites say, around 1.5 million licence's issued yet the UK has between 2 to 4 million playing football...or something like that, worldwide football still wins..


When do all these people find the time....


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## zophiel (11 Oct 2013)

not really emile heskey


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## Hip Priest (11 Oct 2013)

They earn more than me and less than Gareth Bale.


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## Angus444 (13 Oct 2013)

I have two mates riding at Continental level, one in France, one in Germany....these are guys, single, 23 yrs old, one is a qualified nutritionist, the other is completing a Sports Physio qualification.......both earned approx £18,000 in 2013.......not too shabby......


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## jifdave (16 Oct 2013)

Angus444 said:


> both earned approx £18,000 in 2013.......not too shabby......


 assuming they have no rent to pay back here thats ok. wouldnt get me out of bed for that sort of money


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## oldroadman (16 Oct 2013)

Angus444 said:


> I have two mates riding at Continental level, one in France, one in Germany....these are guys, single, 23 yrs old, one is a qualified nutritionist, the other is completing a Sports Physio qualification.......both earned approx £18,000 in 2013.......not too shabby......


 
Poor earnings which are not uncommon at that level. Still if they are "living the dream", then fine. What's clear is that once you pass 23 and have not climbed to Pro-Conti (D2) level by then, it's going to be a hard job to make real money. As I noted earlier, you need to have an eye on what to do to get some decent cash after it's all over unless you are at the seven figure level. The money soon runs out otherwise!


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## Booyaa (16 Oct 2013)

Angus444 said:


> I have two mates riding at Continental level, one in France, one in Germany....these are guys, single, 23 yrs old, one is a qualified nutritionist, the other is completing a Sports Physio qualification.......both earned approx £18,000 in 2013.......not too shabby......


My wife is a qualified nutritionist and sports physio and doesn't earn much more than that. She's pretty rubbish on a bike though.


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## Angus444 (16 Oct 2013)

oldroadman said:


> Poor earnings which are not uncommon at that level. Still if they are "living the dream", then fine. What's clear is that once you pass 23 and have not climbed to Pro-Conti (D2) level by then, it's going to be a hard job to make real money. As I noted earlier, you need to have an eye on what to do to get some decent cash after it's all over unless you are at the seven figure level. The money soon runs out otherwise!


 Yip....their attitude is that they'll race until they get fed up with it, or they are replaced with younger, cheaper, better riders.....unlike many football players of that age, they have decent qualifications behind them for when they stop, and as young lads, they don't have families to provide for, mortgages to pay, etc....good experience to look back on in later life...................


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## lyn1 (17 Oct 2013)

Sounds like riders on the British scene have an inflated view of their value. They spend 90% of their season riding British "chippers" and demand contracts at levels comparable with Pro Conti or even World Tour riders. May work for a couple of seasons but hardly sustainable,

From Larry Hickmott

"Another thing that has changed quite a lot in recent years is the size of the pay packet being demanded. A rider starts to win big races here in Britain and pretty soon he’s being offered more money by another team and so moves on. It’s the nature of the business and how the merry go round works in some respects. But the amount of money being asked for is getting way beyond most teams.
One rider has reportedly signed for a team for 40k which is enough to fund a whole team. I’ve known teams that have a budget far less than that so the gulf between the haves and the have nots is seemingly growing.
It’s not just the stars that are asking for a lot of money. Youngsters too have reportedly asked for a wage that in some ways may be appropriate to make a living as a full time athlete (£15k) but in other respects, is the same money that some star names were getting only a year or three ago. The wages cost to teams has got a point to where some who have been in the sport a while are waiting for the bubble to burst".


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## Noodley (17 Oct 2013)

There's a good article in a recent Rouleur about Dave Clarke, doesn't sound like he's made a fortunepenny. He's ridden for a dozen teams in as many years.


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## SteCenturion (13 Jan 2014)

jifdave said:


> assuming they have no rent to pay back here thats ok. wouldnt get me out of bed for that sort of money


Some of us have no choice for that sort of money &

I am not allowed to go to bed -

Says so on my shoot job description


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## oldroadman (15 Jan 2014)

lyn1 said:


> Sounds like riders on the British scene have an inflated view of their value. They spend 90% of their season riding British "chippers" and demand contracts at levels comparable with Pro Conti or even World Tour riders. May work for a couple of seasons but hardly sustainable,
> 
> From Larry Hickmott
> 
> ...


 
One new UK conti level team have signed quite a few riders and a top manager, rumours of shedloads of money involved, which makes you hope it's sustainable. Problem being the pressure placed on other teams. The other problem would be, as has happened in the past, the money buying up talent and one team dominates the domestic scene. Dull, dull, dull. It's happened before and after a couple of seasons the whole programme collapsed.


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