{"id":25952,"date":"2026-07-21T19:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T10:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=25952"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T10:37:04","slug":"tour-2026-pogacar-tops-money-list-but-hes-no-conor-mcgregor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2026\/07\/21\/tour-2026-pogacar-tops-money-list-but-hes-no-conor-mcgregor\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour 2026: Pogacar Tops Money List But He’s No Conor McGregor…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u20ac11,000 for 6 hours in the near-death zone in 35 degrees heat with 150 crazed shaved-leg-lycra-clad Rabidos trying to smash your dreams to pieces – at the very top of the sport … makes you wonder if it’s enough, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks and fifteen stages into this Tour, the money charts look exactly like you expect when an oil-washing super-rich petro-dollar state bankrolls the most expensive cycling team on earth – that’s right, Cofidis are top! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE TEAM STANDINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UAE Team Emirates-XRG lead comfortably with \u20ac96,620, more than Visma-Lease a Bike (\u20ac63,790) – lease it? they can afford to buy it! – and Alpecin-Deceuninck (\u20ac48,840) – with that much money they can all afford hair transplants, never mind caffeine shampoo – combined<\/em><\/strong> don’t quite catch them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lidl-Trek (\u20ac44,120) and Soudal Quick-Step (\u20ac40,960) round out the top five. At the bottom of the pile, Cofidis have banked just \u20ac5,370 across the same fifteen days of racing \u2014 a reminder of how brutally top-heavy this sport’s economics are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE INDIVIDUAL TOP 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Tadej Poga\u010dar \u2014 \u20ac71,050<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Jonathan Milan \u2014 \u20ac33,300<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Jonas Vingegaard \u2014 \u20ac28,840<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Mathieu van der Poel \u2014 \u20ac28,270<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Ben Healy \u2014 \u20ac23,380<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So stage win at the Tour de France is worth \u20ac11,000 – and that’s \u20ac11,000, split with the team that got you there – and the mechanos and the soigneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Compare that to combat sports. An entry-level UFC fighter earns $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win \u2014 for one fight, one night, 15-25 minutes of work. A genuine superstar at the level of a Poga\u010dar or Vingegaard \u2014 someone who dominates their sport globally \u2014 commands $2-4 million per fight at UFC’s top tier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The true outliers go stratospheric: Conor McGregor banked a guaranteed $30 million<\/strong> just to step into a ring with Floyd Mayweather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Take that Conor!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sure t’ing Floyd, all night fer dis moolah! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Poga\u010dar’s \u20ac71,050 fades a bit eh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A single fight night for an equivalent-tier MMA superstar pays 30 to 400 times that, for a fraction of the suffering (in total!) and a fraction of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How much tho can Pogi take for a whole 3 week Tour?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If he keeps his current pace and takes yellow all the way to Paris:<\/p>\n\n\n\n