UAE Emirates-XRG and Tadej Pogačar cleaned up the prize money at the Tour de France.
With five stage victories, a fourth yellow jersey, and a host of other lucrative placings, cycling’s super team added a nice payout with the biggest share of the Tour de France prize pot.
UAE — already one of cycling’s $50 million “super teams” — won nearly one-third of the Tour’s prize money pot to leave with more than any team among the 23 squads.
The team’s biggest chunk is thanks to Pogačar, who earned 500,000 euros (about $550,000) for winning his fourth yellow jersey.
Add four stage wins (€11,000 each), the polka-dot jersey (€50,000), as well as daily placings and other prize money, including a stage win from Tim Wellens, and UAE leaves Paris with a hefty paycheck of €701,280.
The rich get richer, and UAE will have another reason to celebrate in Paris.
Cycling’s biggest payout
Cycling doesn’t boast the biggest payouts in professional sport, but it is the most lucrative sport in endurance sports.
The total payout during the three-week, 21-stage Tour is more than €2.2 million.
The prize money list is dished out by team, with a squad’s cumulative efforts added up and divvied out across three weeks of racing.
The top-5 on the prize money list largely follow the GC and prolific stage winners of the race.
Tadej Pogačar, Tour de France champion
Carrying the Yellow Jersey for 13 stages this year, @TamauPogi claimed four stage wins on his way to overall victory #WeAreUAE#TDF2025 title, retained pic.twitter.com/R5san5Wid5
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) July 27, 2025
Visma-Lease a Bike, with the team’s prize, two stage wins, and second overall (€200,000) with Jonas Vingegaard, ends the Tour with something to celebrate, even if it didn’t win another yellow jersey.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe — with sources telling Velo that it’s poised to sign Remco Evenepoel to a multi-year contract — jumped up to third this year, with Florian Lipowitz hitting a breakout third and winning the young rider’s white jersey.
That’s a huge bump from last year’s Tour, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in dead last.
At the bottom this year? Cofidis brought home less €15,510. After a brutal Tour, the French team won’t have much to cheer about except arriving in Paris.
How the prize purse is paid out
The biggest share of the Tour’s prize pot is paid out in the GC, with the top podium finishers earning the largest paychecks.
The winner receives €500,000 — relatively paltry compared to a golfer or tennis star — and the payout decreases down the list. Finishing the Tour will earn any rider €1,000, which Simone Consonni received for finishing last in this year’s Tour.
Stage wins earn €11,000 daily, with each day’s top-20 earning a chunk, so there’s more than UCI points in play for finishing high each day.
Pogačar on Montmartre: “Are you not entertained?” #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/3GQzPMmV4b
— Lukas Knöfler (@lukascph) July 27, 2025
The other major jerseys — green (Milan) and polka-dot (Pogačar) — also see €25,000 payouts, while the white jersey winner Lipowitz received €20,000. Visma-Lease a Bike won €50,000 for the team’s prize.
The most combative prize-winner, EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy, earned €20,000, with each day’s winner in that category receiving €2,000 per stage.
Other payouts across the Tour can add up, with €1,500 to the winner of each day’s intermediate sprint, to €500 per stage for anyone wearing yellow.
There were also special primes of €5,000 for the first over the highest climbs in both the Pyrénées and Alps.
How the prize money is shared
Teams typically split out the prize money between the riders, with even staffers on some teams also receiving a share.
There are no hard and fast rules about how the prize money is divvied up. Each team will have its own system.
Following a long tradition, yellow jersey winners forfeit their entire share of the prize money to share among teammates.
Some generous winners will also include special gifts, such as high-end watches, cars, or paid vacations for teammates. No word yet if Pogačar is giving out Richard Mille timepieces.
It can take months before prize money is collected and eventually shared among the riders and staff, and payouts typically come at the end of the season.
Riders on a top-end team like UAE or Visma-Lease a Bike might see five-figure Tour prize money checks, while teams on the lower end of the scale might see payouts of only a few thousand euros, or even less.
Of course, professional cyclists make the lion’s share of their money with their salaries, which are now well into seven figures for the top pros.
And that’s not counting winning bonuses, as well as post-Tour appearance fees, critériums, sponsorship deals, and other endorsements.
#TDF2025 – WOUT VAN AERT WINS ONE OF THE MOST EPIC PARIS STAGE EVER ENDING SOLO ON CHAMPS-ELYSEES AFTER DROPPING TADEJ POGACAR ON MONTMARTRE pic.twitter.com/baHSniXrLx
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 27, 2025
The annual payout for prize money might be little more than spending money for some pros, especially after taxes and contributions to the CPA retirement fund are taken out.
Backroom staffers, such as the mechanics and soigneurs, also see a share of prize money. Depending on the team, staffers earn “chits” or credits for each day worked across a stage race or an entire season.
At the end of the Tour, or sometimes at the end of the season, a hard-working staffer might see a few extra thousand euros to help pay for the off-season vacation.
2025 Tour de France prize money
- UAE Team Emirates XRG – €701,280
- Team Visma-Lease a Bike – €383,150
- Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe – €190,490
- Team Picnic PostNL – €124,430
- Lidl-Trek – €103,770
- Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale – €84,880
- EF Education-EasyPost – €76,080
- Soudal Quick-Step – €72,810
- Alpecin-Deceuninck – €69,920
- Uno-X Mobility – €68,300
- Arkéa-B&B Hotels – €58,760
- Bahrain Victorious – €55,700
- INEOS Grenadiers – €51,650
- Team Jayco AlUla – €44,830
- Intermarché -Wanty – €32,300
- Tudor Pro Cycling Team – €30,490
- XDS Astana Team – €29,240
- TotalEnergies – €28,360
- Groupama-FDJ – €24,640
- Lotto – €20,240
- Movistar Team – €16,830
- Israel – Premier Tech – €15,640
- Cofidis – €15,510
Total Prize Pool: €2,299,300