The Tour de France is undoubtedly the biggest bike race in the world – viewing figures hover around the 7 million mark for the conclusion in Paris, with over 700,000 Tour lovers tuning in to watch the stages.
The 2018 money pot was €2,287,750, and overall winner Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) will have pocketed €500,000 (£442,297) plus €500 for every day (11 days) he spent the leader’s position.
It’s not just Thomas (and thus traditionally his team mates) who will have profited through the race – there’s cash on the line for all of the jersey wearers and stage winners.
Which team won the most cash in 2018?
As you would expect, Team Sky picked up the biggest slice of the €2,287,750 prize pot on offer, courtesy of having two members on the general classification podium, and also enjoying two stage wins to collect a total of €728,630.
Chris Froome on the final stage of the 2017 Tour de France. Image: Sundada
Taking second place, like their GC leader Tom Dumoulin, was Sunweb – with a total of €245,280.
LottoNL-Jumbo were next, with €190,980 – Dylan Groenewegen took two stage wins on consecutive sprint days seven and eight and Primož Roglič was fourth overall.
Next up was Quick-Step Floors, again with two stage wins from Julian Alaphilippe, who also won the mountain competition whilst Bora-Hansgrohe’s €125,900 comes largely from the stage wins of Peter Sagan, as well as his domination of the points competition.
In last place, was EF Education First Drapac – though they did win the hearts of many (as well as the lanterne rouge) thanks to Lawson Craddock’s determination which saw him continue the race all the way to Paris, having crashed and fractured the top of his shoulder blade on stage one.
Tour de France 2018 final prize money
Team Sky €728,630
Sunweb €245,280
LottoNL-Jumbo €190,980
Quick-Step Floors €145,070
Bora-Hansgrohe €125,900
Movistar €114,620
UAE Team Emirates €100,650
Bahrein-Merida €86,050
AG2R La Mondiale €69,800
Trek-Segafredo €58,850
Wanty-Groupe Gobert €56,600
BMC Racing €54,340
Astana €53,530
Groupama-FDJ €53,290
Direct Energie €40,850
Fortuneo-Samsic €36,590
Confidis €25,780
Mitchelton-Scott €20,970
Katusha-Alpecin €18,070
Lotto-Soudal €16,750
Team Dimension Data €15,730
EF Education First Drapac €14,420
Tour de France 2018 prize money breakdown
The greatest prize of all for Thomas is to wear the yellow jersey on the final day in Paris – and alongside a warm glow (and maybe an increase in annual salary) he’ll also earn €500,000 (£442,297) as well as a cool €500 for every day he pulled on that yellow jersey.
All three other wearers of yellow will get €300 for each day they guarded the honour and everyone down to the last rider, Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac) in 145th, gets something, albeit €1,000 from position 20.
Stage winners weren’t just racing for glory either, receiving €11,000 for their victory, with cash extending down to 20th place – the recipients of which may have out-sprinted 21st place for the tidy sum of €300.
Stages – aside from time trials – include intermediate sprints and classified climbs. In the sprints, the winner got €1,500, extending to €1,000 for second and €500 for third.
The financial gain on the climbs depended upon the degree awarded to the incline itself; for an HC (hors catégorie) ascent, the first over the line got €800, for a category one it was €650, category two was €500, three was €300 and category four was €200. Remuneration was greater for the Col du Portet (won by Movistar’s Nairo Quintana) and Col du Tourmalet (taken by eventual king of the mountains winner Julian Alaphilippe) at €5,000 each.
The most combative rider is not to be forgotten, he got €2,000 on each stage and the most aggressive overall Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates)received a profitable €20,000 for his efforts, while the best young rider on each stage pocketed €500.
| GC winner | Prize money (€) | Stage winners | Prize money (€) |
| 1 | 500,000 | 1 | 11,000 |
| 2 | 200,000 | 2 | 5,500 |
| 3 | 100,000 | 3 | 2,800 |
| 4 | 70,000 | 4 | 1,500 |
| 5 | 50,000 | 5 | 830 |
| 6 | 23,000 | 6 | 780 |
| 7 | 11,500 | 7 | 730 |
| 8 | 7,600 | 8 | 670 |
| 9 | 4,500 | 9 | 650 |
| 10 | 3,800 | 10 | 600 |
| 11 | 3,000 | 11 | 540 |
| 12 | 2,700 | 12 | 470 |
| 13 | 2,500 | 13 | 440 |
| 14 | 2,100 | 14 | 340 |
| 15 | 2,000 | 15 | 300 |
| 16 | 1,500 | 16 | 300 |
| 17 | 1,300 | 17 | 300 |
| 18 | 1,200 | 18 | 300 |
| 19 | 1,100 | 19 | 300 |
| 20-160 | 1,000 | 20 | 300 |
Those who were racing for classifications aside from the overall and stage wins were chasing monetary carrots on sticks, too.
The winners and placers in the top eight in the mountains, points and young rider competitions got a payout, and teams to the top five benefitted from anywhere between €50,000 and €8,000.
| Position | Points prize money (€) | Mountains | Young rider | Teams |
| 1 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
| 2 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| 3 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 4 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 5,000 | 12,000 |
| 5 | 3,500 | 3,500 | 8,000 | |
| 6 | 3,000 | 3,000 | ||
| 7 | 2,500 | 2,500 | ||
| 8 | 2,000 | 2,000 | ||
| TOTAL | 65,000 | 65,000 | 50,000 | 120,000 |
