In short, its hard to say for certain how much Tadej Pogaar earns contracts and bonus arrangements are private, and sponsorship deal structures vary widely across riders. This means quoted figures are informed estimates rather than confirmed earnings.Still, there's a consensus among multiple sources that hes the highest-paid rider in the sport.According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pogaar earned an estimated 12 million in 2025.That figure includes everything his UAE Team Emirates-XRG salary, race bonuses, personal sponsorship, and merchandising income.The report suggests his base contract is worth around 8 million per year, with significant bonuses layered on top. These include: 1 million for winning the Tour de France 500,000 for the Giro dItalia and Vuelta a Espaa 250,000 for the World ChampionshipsAfter a dominant 2025 season, those bonuses helped push his total earnings well beyond his base salary.His deal with UAE Team Emirates-XRG runs until 2030 and includes a 200 million buyout clause, effectively tying him to the team for the foreseeable future.Within cycling, that puts Pogaar in a league of his own. Other star riders, including Remco Evenepoel, earn significantly less. Specialized The same report lists Remco Evenepoel on 6.6 million and Jonas Vingegaard on 5 million, while stars such as Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Primo Rogli earn around 4 million.Further down the ladder, the average WorldTour salary is listed at roughly 538,000 not bad, but not 10 million.Domestiques the riders who support their team leaders are estimated to earn, on average, less than 150,000 per year.Again, thats a decent wedge compared to the average wage of even the wealthiest EU nations Euronews reports the median income for residents of Luxembourg in 2025 as 50,799 but, naturally, the biggest stars attract the chunkiest pay packets.What about other sports? Pogaars earnings are small change compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's estimated $275m. Ryan Pierse - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images While Pogaars earnings are exceptional within cycling, they're dwarfed by the fearsome amounts paid to the biggest stars in other sports.Cristiano Ronaldo topped the 2025 Forbes list for the highest-paid athletes, earning an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees.Tennis tells a similar story. Novak Djokovic is listed in the same report as netting total earnings comfortably surpassing $30 million in 2025.So why does the biggest star in cycling earn so much less than other sports?The key difference is scale. Cyclings financial ecosystem is far smaller than football or tennis, with less broadcast revenue and fewer global sponsorship deals feeding into team budgets.Prize money underlines the same point. The latest Richard Mille watch would take a chunk out of even Pogaars salary. Colnago Winning the Tour de France earns a rider 500,000 enough for a 'cheap' $350,000 watch from Pogaars sponsor, Richard Mille, but not the brand's latest chronograph with a total prize pot of around 2.57 million spread across the race. Thats a lot of cash, but modest by global sporting standards.The Wimbledon champions earned 3 million in 2025, while golfs US Open paid $4.3 million to its winner. At sea angling's 2022 White Marlin Open, Jeremy Duffie netted a world-record-setting $4,536,000 for landing a 77.5lb white marlin. More Tour de France questions answered What does a Tour de France rider do if they need to poo? How dangerous is the Tour de France? Why is the Tour de France not on ITV? 3,302km in 76 hours: how fast is the Tour de France? What is the Tour de France caravan, and why does everyone love it so much? Tour de France jargon buster: all the cycling terms you need to know to understand the race

What do Mathieu van der Poel, Sren Wrenskjold and Mauro Schmid all have in common? If you said theyre all stage winners of this edition of the Tour de France youd be right. But theres also something else, a detail so subtle you might not have spotted on the TV: they all shave their arms. Though not a new practice, arm-shaving has seemingly become more common in big races. Cycling Weekly carried out a visual survey on the ground at this year's Tour, assessing riders' forearms as they passed through the pre-stage media zone, and found that around half of the peloton now shave their arms maybe even a slight majority.It got us wondering why. The advantages of smooth legs are well known in cycling less aerodynamic drag equals seconds saved but why the arms too? Their surface area is smaller, they dont block the air flow as much as the legs, and if the riders bike position is low enough, they barely poke up above the handlebars. Surely theres no point in shaving them? In search of answers, we asked the riders themselves. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA's Fernando Gaviria, a two-time Tour stage winner, said this is the first Tour for which he has shaved his arms. I spoke with [my team-mate, Alex] Molenaar about whether we should do or not, he said. Then we spent a night in the room and we said, Ok, lets do it. As a sprinter, Gavirias main motive is to go faster. Its just for more aerodynamics, the Colombian said. I dont feel the difference in the climbs. I get dropped all the same. But what does the science say? Is there an aero advantage? (Image credit: Getty Images)In 2015, bike brand Specialized carried out a test in their wind tunnel, and found that shaved arms saved 19 seconds over 40km. Though the study wasnt far-reaching (their sample size was a single rider), its conclusion was clear enough: the aero gains are small, negligible even, but they exist all the same. According to Casper von Folsach, performance director at Uno-X Mobility, the impact of arm-shaving is very individual, and depends on how much arm hair a rider has. Overall there is for sure a much more significant aero penalty in leg hairs as most people have more significant hair growth on their legs, legs make up a larger surface area and are more exposed, he said. But that doesn't mean there's not a difference for arm hairs. Its partly for this reason that the entirety of Von Folsachs Uno-X Mobility squad came to this years Tour with smooth arms. Gaviria did the same because he has a lot of hair on his body. But even riders who arent so naturally hirsute are shaving their forearms. This is because theres another, perhaps more important reason to do so, as stage 13s winner Schmid explained. It makes it a bit more clean in case you get a little road rash. Its not only for aero gains, the Jayco AlUla rider said. Its the same thing with the legs; in case you crash, I think it makes it much easier because then youre not ripping all the hairs out if you get bandages.Lotto Intermarchs Baptiste Veistroffer, this editions breakaway hero, concurs. Its because of crashing, firstly, he said. If you crash and you need to clean it, or you need surgery, its easier without hair. It was fortunate, then, that Gavirias arms were hairless when he crashed on stage 12, and shredded his skin on the asphalt.(Image credit: Getty Images)Veistroffer, pressed for more information on his arm-shaving habits, was understandably perplexed by Cycling Weekly's questioning. This is not expected, he laughed, but conceded he shaves his arms every one to two weeks only when Im racing, not when Im home. Conversely, Schmid doesnt shave his arms as routinely as he does his legs, and only originally did so to copy another rider. I think Marc Hirschi normally does it, and I saw him do it and thought, Maybe thats the reason why hes so good, he says. So there you have it: riders shave their arms for a few reasons, namely the perceived aero advantage, and for ease in case of road rash. Oh, and there's another minor reason, as Von Folsach points out. For what it's worth, many riders also report that sun screen application becomes easier, he said, so that's also something I guess.

The 2026 Tour de France has been completely turned on its head this Sunday as Jonas Vingegaard, the only rider who had been attempting to dethrone Tadej Pogacar, crashed out of the race. Former pro Tom Dumoulin commented on the fall and attributed the blame on the lack of safety measures. "I find t...

Just short of three years ago, the cycling world was stunned into silence by the news that two of the sports biggest teams Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step were discussing an astonishing potential merger. A week later, talks fell through, and three years on, both teams remain their own separate outfits, and continue to win stages of the Tour de France.But the prospect of the teams joining forces was a sobering reminder of the fragile reality of cyclings economic model, in which teams are almost entirely reliant on sponsorship money just to survive. And with budgets increasing year-on-year, the fight to remain, let alone be competitive, in the WorldTour gets ever harder.So how, then, to react to the news that from next season, for the first time in 24 years Quick-Step would not be a title sponsor of Soudal Quick-Step? The flooring company is moving to a smaller sponsorship role that is likely to involve its logo being placed at the back of the teams bib shorts.Stepping up to replace Quick-Step in the teams name will be the Belgian shoes and protective equipment brand Safety Jogger, with the team being renamed to Soudal Safety Jogger from next season until 2028. Quick-Step reducing its investment comes just three months after journalist Daniel Benson reported that the team would end its 19-year partnership with Specialized bikes next season, with the Belgian team apparently set to ride Merida bikes.In just a few months, Jurgen For, who took over control of the team from Patrick Lefevere at the beginning of 2025, has essentially lost or partially lost in the case of Quick-Step two backers who have been inherently linked with the team throughout all or most of its existence.But nothing lasts forever. Life moves on, businesses evolve. Its the beginning of something new, For said, in response to being asked if it was the end of an era.Though the optics of losing Quick-Step as a main sponsor may look concerning, its also true that under Fors guidance, lead title sponsor Soudal, the womens teams main sponsor AG Insurance, and Quick-Step, albeit in a more minor role, have all committed to finance the team until 2030.The two companies behind the team are financially in good health and we have some reserves we can survive off in the loss of a particular sponsor for a certain period," For told Cycling Weekly.Our accounts are in a good shape, just like our riders, and that gives us a stable output. The agreements to 2030 with Soudal, AG Insurance and Quick-Step give us a long, stable outlook to build upon for the next four to five years. Zdenk [Bakala, the team's owner] is also a big supporter of the team so were in a good place as a team.In recent years, big multinational companies like Lidl, Decathlon and Red Bull have invested into cycling and taken controlling stakes of the teams they lend their name to. That has generally been accepted as an indication of cyclings apparent increase in popularity and attractiveness.But For is happy for his team not to go down that path. If we compare everything to Red Bull and Lidl, everyone can go home now, For said, more in reference to both teams greater budgets.We look to solid companies, companies who are investing and growing and have an important business to consumer component. If you're a Belgian-based company operating internationally [like Soudal and Safety Jogger], cycling sponsorship is a relevant way to support or boost your growth. And you can still be a relevant sponsor in cycling.We keep hold of our ownership which is important for the teams independence. Its a good thing that big sponsors enter the sport, but just because there are four big names in the sport right now, it doesnt mean all the rest of us should go home. We have autonomy to discuss and make choices for ourselves and thats a good situation to be in.Safety Jogger currently sits on the back of the team's bib shorts (Image credit: Getty Images)Cycling Weekly understands that the team is in talks with a bigger company to join Soudal as co-title sponsor from 2028, possibly replacing Safety Jogger ,who may be acting as a placeholder sponsor, though nothing is yet agreed.According to financial accounts available online, Safety Jogger is a smaller company than Quick-Step, but its general director, Tom Gybels told Cycling Weekly that the business had quadrupled its output in just four years. It was also hoping to sell 100 million products in the next five-to-10 years, a 400% increase from now.Dont underestimate the size of Safety Jogger. Were quite a big player globally and we can easily manage this investment and sponsorship, Gybels said. If you evolve from selling 6 million pieces to 20 million in a short period of time, its not like that growth and momentum is going to stop. We believe this [co-title sponsorship of the team] will be the next extra rocket to catapult us into a top-three place [worldwide in its sector].Less seriously, though Gybels laughed that I want totally yellow in reference to the 2027 Soudal Safety Jogger kit, For hinted that the teams blue, white and black livery wont change too much.Next to the Wolfpack [moniker] we have always been team blue and we are a tradition of teams, so blue will always be in the team colour, For said. We will stick to that. We are developing everything for next year and we will look nice and classy.

The Plateau de Solaison has finally created a difference between Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz. With the Belgian rider thriving and winning on the summit finish, ahead of the race's sole individual time trial, it has become apparent that the Olympic Champion is the main card to play. Evenepo...

Known primarily for its oval chainrings and high-end graphene-infused chain lubricant, the latest from absoluteBLACK might surprise you. A few days ago, we learned that the speciality cycling brand is entering the tubeless tape market with the debut of its Polyimide Tubeless Rim Tape for Carbon Rims. This transparent polyimide tape with high-tack adhesive is intended to take the guesswork out of installation and provide a consistent, reliable seal.absoluteBLACK Polyimide Tape DetailsThis new rim tape is made from engineering-grade polyimide and is transparent with a light amber color. According to absoluteBLACK, the polyimide material is widely used in aerospace and electronics applications for its strength and stability. At just 100 microns, it conforms precisely to the rim bed, while a controlled level of elasticity helps it settle into place without lifting.Importantly, the transparent tape has no logos or graphics, which absoluteBLACK says can often hide imperfections and air bubbles that result in poor adhesion and sealing. This makes it easier to see bubbles and other imperfections during installation, so they can be worked out and corrected, thereby improving conformity to the surface of the rim bed.Additionally, absoluteBLACK is using a higher-tack adhesive, which they say is specifically designed for high-pressure applications and use with carbon rims. The brand states that the thicker adhesive layer increases compliance, resulting in an enhanced ability to adapt to varying shapes and profiles. The thicker adhesive reportedly conforms more readily to irregularities and surface imperfections, which increases contact and improves the consistency of the seal.Together, absoluteBLACK intends its Polyimide Tubeless Rim Tape to reduce the guesswork in tubeless setups making it possible to see, correct, and achieve a consistent, reliable seal before riding.SpecsAvailable Widths: 23, 25, 27, 29, 32mmLength: 10mColor: Transparent amberMaterial: Engineering-grade polyimide / higher tack adhesiveCompatibility: Specifically designed for Carbon rims (also works on Aluminum)MSRP: $19.95 / 16.95AvailabilityabsoluteBlacks Polyimide Tubeless Rim Tape is available now. Head to the brands website to learn more or order a roll for your next tubeless tape job.absoluteblack.cc

Jonas Vingegaard said that he was lucky to only break his collarbone in the crash that took him out of the Tour de France, as he abandoned the race for the first time.The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, a two-time winner of the race, crashed on an innocuous bend on stage 15 of the race on Sunday, depriving the Tour of the man in second place.He was taken away in an ambulance for an X-ray, which confirmed that he had fractured his collarbone, and that he will need surgery."It's going surprisingly well," he told Danish TV station TV2 later. "It's of course very disappointing for us to end up like this, and for the Tour to end like this. But that's how cycling is. Luckily, it's only a broken collarbone."Of course it's a huge shame. We're disappointed, and I just hope the boys can now focus next week and hopefully win a stage or two."I just talked to my family a little bit. That was the most important thing for me. We've come up with a plan for what's going to happen now, and I've talked to some of the team. It's no use hanging your head. It just makes it worse."On Sunday evening, Visma-Lease a Bike reasoned that the crash might have happened because of the line the lead motorbike took through the corner."We maybe came into this roundabout a little too fast, and then my front wheel just slips. I can't do anything," Vingegaard said. "That's how cycling races are sometimes. It's just super annoying for us, to be honest."Maybe the motorcycle makes a mistake, but we can't trust the motorcycles. We have to have our own judgment," Vingegaard continued. "People make mistakes, and we can't change that now."In his yellow jersey press conference, Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) suggested that part of the reason for the crash could be that Vingegaard was woken at 2am by anti-doping testers."It is clear that it has not done anything good for it, you could say. Whether that is the reason, I dare not speculate. It may well have done something. I should not be able to say that," Vingegaard replied, however."I don't want to blame it on that, because it's a bicycle race, and crashes happen in bicycle races. So I don't dare answer that."

After too many technical gremlins, or ghosts in the machine, to think of, Callum is here getting the live blog up and running. He just wishes Jonas Vingegaard could still be in the running across the channel...

Remco Evenepoel has taken one of the biggest victories of his career this Sunday at the Tour de France, his first mountain stage at the Grand Boucle. He has spoken bout it, how he prepared for it and his feelings towards the controversial timing of the recent doping tests for Tadej Pogacar and Jonas...