I remember not long ago i read a article on this subject, was ranging from £10,000 ($15,000?) for a new team member - £4,000,000 ($6,000,000?) For people such as Mr Armstrong!! I think it was £4,000,000 anyway, give or take a million or two
Lance's second book let drop that base salary for a USPS rider was USD$60k/year. Plus all the cycling gear you'll ever need... plus a $50k bonus if Postal wins the TDF, and Lance added another $50k to that.
The really big stars like Lance or Jan probably make more from endorsements than salary - somewhere between 5 and 10 milllion I think. Unless, of course, their blood looks funny under a flow cytometer.
Being in the UK I didnt realise until recently that Lance is one of the main poster boys for Nike in the US. Seems the majority of Nike's adverts have him in them.
So I would imagine the vast majority of his earnings come from Nike.
Wow, really!? That's a terrible salary!! Do the european riders make more?
I guess the perks of travel and excitement of racing add to the experience. And of course, there are endorsement opportunities. But personally I wouldn't quit my day job for that.
I know for two of them: Aitor Gonzales got around 600.000 euros per year at Fassa and Ullrich has a 3 year contract for 5 million euros = 1,7 million per year!
Not a lot regarding to time they`re spending on a bike and difficulty of trainings! Just compare that salaries with salaries of most popular team sports sportsmen!
I was watching the Tour of Britain and there was a question similar to this one and the man that was awnsering them said it ranges from 10thousnad for "novices" to 8 million a year for Lance Armstrong.
Just out of curiosity, over what distance was the TT covered and what was your time? Would like to get a idea of the standard of cycling at club level. Was it a local TT, ie. nr Basildon?
Before winning the Tour last year, this CNN Money article lists him as making $16.5 million a year. Then he went on to win both the 2003 Tour and the 2004 Tour. I'd be surprised if his total haul per year is less than $20 million currently. He's the big kahuna of cycling though. The rest are all making less than him.
Ahh, here's another article which points out some additional facts. It looks like perhaps Armstrong's earnings have not spiked up as I had anticipated. I suppose that the amounts depend on when they were written as to what time period the contracts cover.
Also, it appears that there may be an enormous gap between Armstrong's earnings and the next one in line, whoever that may be. Ullrich is only making $3 million a year even though he has won the Tour before. He's the only other rider now riding the Tour de France who has won it before. Pantani has died, and Riis is not riding anymore, nor is Indurain. Lemond quit a long time ago.
It truly is a poor man's sport, as it suggests. It does cost a lot of money to sponsor the teams though. I can't believe it, but some of the athletes who lined up for this year's Tour de France only made $20,000 a year base salary. That's almost unbelievable. I thought they were all making at least $100,000 a year base salary. 5 time winner Jacques Anquetil died almost broke in the late 1980's.
Why? Does TDF competitors get to carry guns then? Suppose it could be a good tactic, if someone tries to make a break from the peleton, then just shoot'em off the bike.