{"id":216514,"date":"2025-10-16T04:53:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/216514\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T04:53:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:53:19","slug":"how-tadej-pogacar-earns-pro-racings-biggest-pay-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/216514\/","title":{"rendered":"How Tadej Poga\u010dar Earns Pro Racing’s Biggest Pay Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between salary, bonuses, royalties, and merchandising, the Slovenian cashed in during 2025 to lead a new generation of global stars in cycling’s big money era.<\/p>\n

\"Poga\u010dar\"<\/p>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar wins more than anyone else and earns more than anyone else. (Photo: Chris Auld\/Velo)<\/p>\n

Updated October 15, 2025 11:31AM<\/p>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> isn\u2019t just cycling\u2019s 21st-century GOAT, he\u2019s also drawing an eight-figure pay packet that\u2019s Forbes rich-list worthy.<\/p>\n

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/a>, Poga\u010dar\u2019s compensation across his 2025 season could top 12 million euros, or about $14 million.<\/p>\n

The Italian sports daily revealed some interesting details about bonuses and royalties that confirm earlier reporting from Velo that makes Poga\u010dar\u2019s best-paid cyclist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After his historic 2024 treble \u2014 winning the Giro d\u2019Italia, Tour de France, and world championships \u2014 UAE Emirates-XRG penned its superstar through 2030 with the most lucrative deal<\/a> in cycling history that includes an eye-popping \u20ac200 million buyout clause.<\/p>\n

The new contract is reportedly worth \u20ac8 million per season \u2014 a \u20ac2 million pump from his previous salary \u2014 and worth an estimated \u20ac50 million in total.<\/p>\n

It also comes sweetened with performance bonuses for big wins, La Gazzetta reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bonuses include \u20ac1 million for a Tour victory, \u20ac500,000 for the Giro or Vuelta, and \u20ac250,000 for worlds. Other wins, such as the monuments and one-week stage races, do not include bonus incentives.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Poga\u010dar pocketed around \u20ac1.25 million in bonuses, slightly less than the \u20ac1.75 million haul from his triple-crown year, after adding another Tour de France and world title to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, La Gazzetta reported.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every year the Poga\u010dar brand doubles\u2019
\n\"Poga\u010dar\"Poga\u010dar is always at the center of attention. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n

The Italian sports daily also estimated that Poga\u010dar is quickly growing into a sponsorship juggernaut that is earning him up to \u20ac2 million annually in extra income beyond his UAE salary.<\/p>\n

And that number is increasing by the season.<\/p>\n

Managed by A&J All Sports, Poga\u010dar\u2019s personal brand portfolio now includes Colnago, DMT, Met, Continental, Enervit, Jana, Plume, MyWhoosh, and the Slovenian Tourist Office.<\/p>\n

Those names might not be global mega-brands, but together they underscore Poga\u010dar\u2019s growing sponsorship appeal.<\/p>\n

Merchandising is also booming on the tailwinds of the Poga\u010dar phenomenon, which includes the increasing profile of his personal brand.<\/p>\n

His official website sells merchandise<\/a> that includes the styled \u201cTP\u201d logo on T-shirts, jerseys, coffee mugs, socks, books, key rings, and other products, with proceeds supporting the Tadej Poga\u010dar Foundation and a Slovenian youth academy.<\/p>\n

According to Pogacar\u2019s manager Alex Carera, sales keep ticking up the more Poga\u010dar keeps winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years ago, the personal logo was almost a whim,\u201d Carera told La Gazzetta. \u201cToday, it\u2019s a fundamental part of Tadej\u2019s image value. Every year, the Poga\u010dar brand doubles in worth compared to the previous one.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Gazzetta reported that Poga\u010dar also receives royalties on sales of such products as the limited-edition Colnago bikes (\u20ac17,000 each) and a slice of the Pissei race wear line that generates sales worth \u20ac30 million annually.<\/p>\n

With the rise of $50 million-plus-budget super teams, Poga\u010dar\u2019s financial bonanza also reveals how more money than ever is flowing into the upper tiers of pro cycling.<\/p>\n

Though much of that windfall remains concentrated among a handful of top winners, elite male stars like Poga\u010dar, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard now command salaries and multi-year contracts that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s international profile keeps rising
\n\"Poga\u010dar\"Poga\u010dar\u2019s contract is packed with performance incentives. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n

Between salary, bonuses, royalties, appearance fees, and other income, Poga\u010dar earned about \u20ac12 million in 2025.<\/p>\n

And next year, Carrera says it\u2019ll be more.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the most any cyclist has earned since Lance Armstrong reeled in an estimated $30 million per year in salary and sponsorship deals with brands like Nike and Subaru before his USADA downfall.<\/p>\n

Armstrong was the rare pro cyclist who truly broke into the mainstream. Poga\u010dar could be heading in that direction.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar is starting to pop up in more international events. For example, in mid-November, he will be the special guest at the Esports World Championships in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Poga\u010dar was nominated for the 2025 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award alongside such sports icons as Carlos Alcaraz, Armand Duplantis, Leon Marchand, and Max Verstappen (pole-vaulter Duplantis won).<\/p>\n

Cycling still trails the financial firepower of U.S. major leagues or European football, but today\u2019s elite riders are finally earning seven-figure salaries commiserate with their suffering and sacrifice on the road.<\/p>\n

So far, no one\u2019s leveraged that better than the Slovenian slugger.<\/p>\n

At just 27, he looks to have at least five more seasons at the top to continue to amass his growing personal fortune.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between salary, bonuses, royalties, and merchandising, the Slovenian cashed in during 2025 to lead a new generation of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,73718,70573,54266,104632,62509,54267],"class_list":{"0":"post-216514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-parent_category-road","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tag-alex-carera","14":"tag-tag-remco-evenepoel","15":"tag-tag-tadej-pogacar","16":"tag-tag-transfers","17":"tag-tag-uae-emirates","18":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}