Pro cycling isn’t exactly as lucrative as, say, baseball, basketball, football or soccer, but if you’re going to try and make solid dough, the men’s Tour de France is a good choice.
Danish cycling publication Feltet, through a deep dive by journalist Gustav Volstrup Sønderlund, recently broke down the 2026 Tour prize structure, and found that riders and teams will be competing for a total prize fund of roughly €2.57 million. At current exchange rates, that’s about $4.1 million Canuck bucks spread across the three-week race.
Yellow is gold
Unsurprisingly, the largest cheque goes to the rider standing atop the podium in Paris. This year’s overall winner will collect €500,000, or approximately $800,000 CAD. Second place earns around $320,000 CAD, while third takes home roughly $160,000 CAD. The top 20 riders in the general classification all receive prize money.
The other competitions pay out as well. Victories in the points and mountains classifications are worth about $80,000 CAD, while the best young rider and the race’s most aggressive rider each earn roughly $64,000 CAD.
Stage wins pay well
Stage wins remain lucrative by cycling standards. Each stage victor pockets about €11,000, or close to $18,000 CAD, with prize money paid through 20th place. Riders also earn daily bonuses for holding the yellow, green, polka-dot and white jerseys.
There are additional payouts available throughout the race, including cash prizes for intermediate sprints, mountain summits and the traditional Souvenir Henri Desgrange and Souvenir Jacques Goddet awards. It’s not just being the first over the line. And even if you don’t win a stage, the team tracks the cash you bring in. Everyone does like dough, after all.
Of course, Tour prize money is rarely kept by the rider alone. The long-standing tradition within the peloton is for earnings to be pooled and shared among teammates and staff.
That can add up quickly. According to Feltet, UAE Team Emirates topped the earnings table at last year’s Tour, with Tadej Pogačar responsible for the lion’s share of the team’s winnings. (Plus they get actual lions, those cute little stuffed animals, courtesy of long-running sponsor, LCL.)
The upcoming Tours de France
The men’s Tour de France begins July 7 and goes until July 26. The Tour de France Femmes begins shortly thereafter, on Aug. 1 until Aug. 9.
Start lists are still being finalized for both events. One rider who won’t be doing the Tour this year, is Guillaume Boivin after his crash in Belgium and subsequent surgery. So far for the TdFF, one rider is confirmed, world champ Magdeleine Vallières Mill. But undoubtedly more will be announced. And as far as the women’s prize money, Canadian Cycling Magazine will try and figure that out too…and yeah, it’s probably going to be significantly less.