How much do pros get paid (Salary from teams)?

redddraggon

I'd imagine its along the same lines as what rugby players get, largely about the national average wage with the best players/riders get quite a bit more.

Am I right in my thinking? Anyone got any figures?

ajohn9

as a pro in the protour...
i reckon between £25,000 and £800,000
i read that one of the new young good riders (cant remember his name) from saunier duval has been offered a million euros for next season at liquigas.
that is all i know!

ricadus

Minus automatic deductions for medical assistance perhaps.

I bet there are various little scams whereby a team claws back some of what is stated to be "paid" in the contract, anyway.

Also certain riders supplement their salaries with personal sponsorship deals with companies.

CM92S4E

Probably wrong and ridiculos, but on Pro Cycling Manager 2007 I pay Jerome Pineau 17500 euros a week. And he is my highest earner at Bouyges Telecom (I think...?)

Kléber

There's a minimum wage for Pro Tour riders, being €24,000 for a neo-pro contract and €30,000 thereafter.

Many riders earn more. Once you make a name for yourself, usually by winning races, your salary goes up significantly.

Pagem

CM92S4E wrote:

Probably wrong and ridiculos, but on Pro Cycling Manager 2007 I pay Jerome Pineau 17500 euros a week. And he is my highest earner at Bouyges Telecom (I think...?)

for some reason this quote really tickles me.

drenkrom

As stated above, ProTour riders earn a minimum of 30,000 Euros a year, up to above 1 million. The biggest number I've seen post-Lance was 1,7M Euros to Vino, though he may be forfeiting part of that now. Continental riders often get money for an appartment, team kit and a bike. I know a few Conti pros in the US and "slave wage" is an understatement in some cases.

By the way, the wages in PCM2007 are displayed on a monthly basis.

ajohn9

I think compared to sports such as baseball, football and tennis etc that the money the pro cyclists earn is meagre to say the least. for my money they work a hell of a lot harder physiologically that any of the sports named above, or any sport for that matter!

Kléber

It's the same everywhere in sports, the winner takes all.

Lower riders get a fraction for their efforts, coming in first instead of twenty first can add two zeros to your salary.

Hence the incentive to dope, especially in sports where performance enhancing drugs can significantly enhance your performance.

kmahony

ajohn9 wrote:

as a pro in the protour...
i reckon between £25,000 and £800,000
i read that one of the new young good riders (cant remember his name) from saunier duval has been offered a million euros for next season at liquigas.
that is all i know!

I think that might be Rico. I read somewhere he's currently on 30,000EUR, so he's on for a nice pay rise (one way or another)

ajohn9

yeah thats him, riccardo ricco

ricadus

Pagem wrote:

CM92S4E wrote:

Probably wrong and ridiculos, but on Pro Cycling Manager 2007 I pay Jerome Pineau 17500 euros a week. And he is my highest earner at Bouyges Telecom (I think...?)

for some reason this quote really tickles me.

If the real Jerome Pineau read this he might weep.

knedlicky

Last year, the team budget for both T-Mobile and Astana was 12-13 million €. Both teams had around 30 riders and about half as many backroom staff. That makes an average of around 300,000 € per year per person, though almost certainly any average means nothing because within a team there are great discrepancies..
I’ve heard it said most backroom staff and lesser domestiques get about 30-40,000 € per year, and that in most teams there will be a hierarchy with progressively higher salaries, the top ten in any team and the managers/coaches getting salaries between 150-600,000 € per year, and the top rider over a million € per year.

iainf72

knedlicky wrote:

Last year, the team budget for both T-Mobile and Astana was 12-13 million €. Both teams had around 30 riders and about half as many backroom staff. That makes an average of around 300,000 € per year per person, though almost certainly any average means nothing because within a team there are great discrepancies..

Sinkewitz was paid a salary of €500,000 apparantly.

In ProCycling, one of the DS's from a French team, can't remember which, said his salary was €9000 per month.

andyp

[quote="iainf72"
Sinkewitz was paid a salary of €500,000 apparantly.

In ProCycling, one of the DS's from a French team, can't remember which, said his salary was €9000 per month.[/quote]
It was Jean-Rene Bearnadeau I think, DS of Bouygues Telecom.

It's not much is it, approx £75k a year? (And I mean in terms of running an enterprise which has a) a high profile and b) employs 40-50 people). What wasn't clear was if that was gross or net.

iainf72

andyp wrote:

It was Jean-Rene Bearnadeau I think, DS of Bouygues Telecom.

It's not much is it, approx £75k a year? (And I mean in terms of running an enterprise which has a) a high profile and b) employs 40-50 people). What wasn't clear was if that was gross or net.

I was shocked - Even £75K net wouldn't be much considering what he does IMO.

I dread to think what someone like Bruyneel was taking home.

ricadus

knedlicky wrote:

Last year, the team budget for both T-Mobile and Astana was 12-13 million €. Both teams had around 30 riders and about half as many backroom staff. That makes an average of around 300,000 € per year per person, though almost certainly any average means nothing because within a team there are great discrepancies..
I’ve heard it said most backroom staff and lesser domestiques get about 30-40,000 € per year, and that in most teams there will be a hierarchy with progressively higher salaries, the top ten in any team and the managers/coaches getting salaries between 150-600,000 € per year, and the top rider over a million € per year.

Of course, that ignore all the other running costs – office hire, hotels, travel, team buses (£100,000ish to buy and fit out) petrol, etc...

Kléber

For some teams, don't forget the medicines bill, paying people to smuggle stuff, employing "doctors" and the rest of the circus.

Monty Dog

I'd expect that at least 60-70% of that budget would be consumed in fixed costs and expenses - they've got to enter races, travel around and stay in hotels and eat etc. I know from talking to people that salaries can range from about 25,000 Euros for a domestique in a Spanish team

HungryCol

ajohn9 wrote:

I think compared to sports such as baseball, football and tennis etc that the money the pro cyclists earn is meagre to say the least. for my money they work a hell of a lot harder physiologically that any of the sports named above, or any sport for that matter!

Does mean cyclists are doing it for the pure love of the sport? Not the trophy wife, 3 Ferrari's and a kitch mansion. Certainly a refreshing change in the world of sport.

Kléber

HungryCol wrote:

Does mean cyclists are doing it for the pure love of the sport? Not the trophy wife, 3 Ferrari's and a kitch mansion. Certainly a refreshing change in the world of sport.

Not so: http://www.missingsaddle.com/wp-content ... errari.JPG

HungryCol

I got my picture taken beside a Ferrari once too 8)

drenkrom

While cleaning the house this weekend, I stumbled upon a back issue of CS that listed the approximate salaries of the top riders. Some figures are known and confirmed, such as Valverde's insane salary hike last off-season. Some are estimates.

Valverde got top spot with 2.6M euros
Bettini second at 2.5
Boonen third at 2 million
Petacchi: 1.7
Basso: 1.5 (that was with Disco in February this year)
Cunego: 1.4
Vino: 1.3
McEwen: 1.2
Hushovd: 1 million
Zabel: 1.2 (that may have dropped slightly this summer)

2.7 million a year is quite an incentive. Take all the blood you want and shoot me up with anything, Doctor.

Edit: completed the list with the mag in front of me

emaichael

Kléber wrote:

There's a minimum wage for Pro Tour riders, being €24,000 for a neo-pro contract and €30,000 thereafter.

Many riders earn more. Once you make a name for yourself, usually by winning races, your salary goes up significantly.

what i don't understand, is where does all this money come from to pay riders? someones got to earn it... or give it etc.. wheres is all coming from?

iainf72

emaichael wrote:

what i don't understand, is where does all this money come from to pay riders? someones got to earn it... or give it etc.. wheres is all coming from?

From the sponsors. They're just employees working for a company.

pliptrot

In terms of return on investment, advertising by putting your name on a cyclist's back has got to be pretty poor, I think. Thank goodness, then, for enthusiasts with enough money to do it. Once upon a time companies like Renault, Panasonic and other biggies sponsored teams. Now the picture has changed, and with Discovery Channel pulling out the only biggies left that I can think of are T-Mobile and Rabobank. If I'm right that cycling's sponsors are getting smaller, does this bode ill for the sport?

knedlicky

iainf72 wrote:

From the sponsors. They're just employees working for a company.

That’s a bit simplified – the teams are actually formed and controlled by a what one might call small consortiums, who then seek out sponsors. When a sponsor is found, how much money reaches the riders is controlled by the consortium, whose members obviously want their own cut first, before seeing to the riders and the necessary technical backroom staff.

knedlicky

pliptrot wrote:

In terms of return on investment, advertising by putting your name on a cyclist's back has got to be pretty poor, I think.

I think the short term rewards of sponsorship, provided the team does well, can be very good, though lot of it comes from the ancillary media coverage rather than the visibility of a rider’s jersey.
And I think it appeals to the moderately-sized firms with ambition rather than the huge established ones, who don’t need it, unless for tax reasons or to get a foothold in the Europan market. I imagine the sponsorship in the 80s from Japanese firms like Hitachi and Toyota helped them get established in Europe, just by subconscious familiarity with the name.

One shouldn’t under-estimate the turnover, ambition and advertising success of some companies because they are not household names in the UK. Some sponsor names like Castorama might not mean much in the UK, but in France their sales went right up during sponsorship. Same goes for Gerolsteiner who readily admit their first years were very good for business though now think the peak has been reached. Saeco did exceptionally well a few years ago, extending their business well outside Italy and in the farther past Seat benefited a lot, as did Café de Columbie, helping the whole Colombian coffee sales in Europe. Esta (iced) Tea also did very well in the last 15 years without ever really sponsoring a team but just by being involved in the Giro pink jersey sponsorship.

I also guess some sponsors don’t expect more business but just want to keep their name in the headlines in the face of increasing competition, e.g. T-Mobile and Credit Agricole.

pliptrot

Knedlicky,

I suppose I was being a little parochial in my outlook. Thanks for your enlightening response.

Titanium

A TV advertizing campaign costs roughly £500,000 for a standard campaign, for a standard film production along with a few prime time slots. For the money, you get 20 minutes on TV max when no one is interested.

Compare this to the coverage a team gets during just the Tour de France. Even a losing team gets name checks and winners get TV time and associated with positive images like winning and youth. But doping scandals generate air time too along with bad images.

Studies show cycling offers good value for money, team sponsors get a lot more media coverage for their money than for other sports. Presumably the risk of scandal explains some of the discount between sponsorship investment and marketing return.

Mark Alexander

I think that might be Rico. I read somewhere he's currently on 30,000EUR, so he's on for a nice pay rise (one way or another)[/quote]

I have to admit that I'm stunned that any Pro rider could be on as little as £20K p.a.
I was expecting at least £30-40k considering the effort needed to do the job and the length of career. the top wages don't surprise me though