Tour de France Prize List

For one of the biggest sporting events in the world the prize list is surprisingly modest. A total of €2,022,900 in prizes will be paid out and teams also share a pot of over one million Euros in expenses.

The amount is unchanged from last year. So thanks to inflation it is worth less and for non-European riders the Euro has fallen 20% against the US dollar since last summer. Not that anyone is counting, the ultimate prize is standing on the podium in Paris. Here is a breakdown of the Tour de France prize list.

• Each day there’s €8,000 for the stage winner, €4,000 for second place and a decreasing scale down to a modest €200 for 20th place.
• For the final overall classification in Paris, first place brings in €450,000 and the Sèvres porcelain trophy, awarded “in the name of the Presidency of the French Republic“.
• The full breakdown is €450,000 for first place, €200,000 for second place, €100,000 for third place and then €70,000, €50,000, €23,000, €11,500, €7,600, €4,500, €3,800, €3,000, €2,700, €2,500, €2,100, €2,000, €1,500, €1,300, €1,200, €1,000, €950, €900, €850, €750, €700 until € 650 for 25th place.
• Then 26th to 30th place collects €600
• 31st to 40th place gets €550
• 41st to 50th place gets €500
• 51st to 90th place gets €450
• every other rider to finish collects €400

There are other pots of money available in the race:

• €350 a day to whoever wears the yellow jersey, €300 for the other jersey holders
• €25,000 for the final winner of the green and polka dot jerseys
• €20,000 for the final winner of the white jersey
• There’s also money for the first three in the intermediate sprint and for getting mountain points too
• The highest point in the Pyrenees and the Alps each sees a prize. On Stage 11 the Henri Desgrange prize is awarded at the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer and is worth €5,000. On Stage 16 the Prix Jacques Goddet will be awarded to the first rider to the top of the Col du Tourmalet and is also worth €5,000.
• The “most combative” prize is awarded and worth €2,000 each day, the “Super combative” prize is awarded in Paris and the winner collects €20,000.
• There’s also a team prize with €2,800 awarded each day to the leading team on the overall, as calculated by the best three riders overall.
• In addition, every team that starts gets paid €51,243 to cover expenses. And should a squad make it to Paris with seven or more riders they stand to collect an additional €1,600 bonus for each rider the have left.

In summary that’s €2,022,900 in prizes, €1,127,346 in expenses and €264,000 in bonus payments for teams that make it to Paris with at least 7 riders: a total payout of €3,412,546.

Note the accumulation of micro payments. €200 here, €450 there. Clearly the winner takes the biggest share but there is something for everyone. You’ll often see riders in a breakaway contesting the intermediate sprint, not because they want the points but because there is cash available. Payment is usually made a month after the race and the funds are shared by the teams with differing formulas although the idea is to share the money with everyone on the squad, including support staff.

For all the talk of money the most priceless thing is the trophy. Win the Tour de France and you get the porcelain bowl made in Sèvres by the state-owned pottery company Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres. It’s a unique trophy and has no official title, except it is awarded “in the name of the Presidency of the French republic”. It’s elegant and you probably wouldn’t use it as a fruit bowl. But it’s not that valuable in crude money terms. An outraged Floyd Landis reportedly smashed his.

The real value for a rider comes in a huge increase in pay. Teams and sponsors will offer millions to hire the services of a Tour winner.

• And those lions? They are prizes from LCL, the bank that has sponsored the yellow jersey since 1987. They are not that rare as VIPs who appear at the race receive them in a goody bag and even bank staff can get them. But every now and then someone puts one on ebay and they command a high price.

At the time of writing: €1 = US$1.25 / £0.80 /AU$1.23