# domestic road pro salaries?



## steel515 (Sep 6, 2004)

Approximately how much do riders on domestic road pro teams, such as Navigators make compared to european road pros. Maybe it depends on their ability/number of wins?


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## whit417 (Jul 5, 2005)

Just a guess but I would say maybe 10-15 k. There are so many different factors, team budget, etc. that It would be hard to say. Not much money, but if I were young and had the talent and could get paid to ride, I would ride for 10k in a second.


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## MikeBiker (Mar 9, 2003)

I would think that Navigators pays more than most of the other teams.

My only experience is a conversation that I had with the wife of a domestic team rider. She said that her husband basicly broke even on the expenses and they lived on her salary.


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## elviento (Mar 24, 2002)

But one can hardly survive on 10K though. 



whit417 said:


> Just a guess but I would say maybe 10-15 k. There are so many different factors, team budget, etc. that It would be hard to say. Not much money, but if I were young and had the talent and could get paid to ride, I would ride for 10k in a second.


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## whit417 (Jul 5, 2005)

Not most adults with families, etc. I would imagine that they have off season jobs, spouses that work, parents, etc. I guess that being broke would be a choice you make for riding a bike for a living, with a chance of doing better. Most probably think they have shot at making big money one day, or at least I would hope they do.


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## wzq622 (Aug 3, 2004)

I've read in an old issue of Velonews that most domestic pros make around $10,000 and work at other jobs to supplement their income. Maybe a top pro like Fraser or Wherry make a bit more, but I don't think it'll be a comfortable life if they lived off the money earned from racing domestically.

Landis said in an interview he made around $15,000-20,000 from mt biking before he went to the road scene.


Watch the documentary called "The Hard Road". It's a sobering film that details the life of a domestic pro team, NetZero, for one year (which was their only year in existence).


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

From a few pros I've talked to, it's similar to any other sport in the the top dogs make a LOT more than the rest; I know Chris Horner took a BIG pay-cut when he went to Saunier Duval.

For the entry-to-mid level US pros, $1,000-2,000 / month is in the range I've heard.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Pros don't make much at all domestically. I few that I knew supplemented their income by being CTS coaches and Shaklee reps. I remember reading about Bobby Julich not tossing his empty bottles during races early in his career because he could not afford to replace them.


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## magnolialover (Jun 2, 2004)

*Lots of pros...*



bigbill said:


> Pros don't make much at all domestically. I few that I knew supplemented their income by being CTS coaches and Shaklee reps. I remember reading about Bobby Julich not tossing his empty bottles during races early in his career because he could not afford to replace them.


Lots of pro riders don't make anything, yeah, that's right, 0 dollars. They live off of whatever else they can, and spend most of their time on the road racing (which expenses get covered by the team sometimes), but for the most part, they would be exceptionally lucky to get more than 5k/year. 

Bear in mind that the minimum salary for a Divison 1 ProTour team rider is 30k. Now that's the "big leagues" as far as pro cyclists go, so convert that back to a Division III rider or a domestic rider, and it converts to not very much. I would be surprised if half of the peloton made any salary at all, and also, for most teams, there is no health insurance either, and bike racing can be dangerous. Lots of these guys live off what little salary that they have, and race winnings.


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## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

I googled the 2005 UCI rider agreement and it states the minimums for both new and seasoned riders. The amounts are stated in euros in the agreement and I converted into approximate US dollars.
New rider Other rider
Continental teams $23,700 $27,200
UCI Pro Tour teams $28,500 $35,500

Domestically only HealthNet and Navigators would fit into the continental status. So most of the other teams would be below (well below?) the amounts listed. The agreement also states that riders can be paid bonuses based on performance.


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## lemonlime (Sep 24, 2003)

*Is there a domestic riders union?*



magnolialover said:


> Lots of pro riders don't make anything, yeah, that's right, 0 dollars. They live off of whatever else they can, and spend most of their time on the road racing (which expenses get covered by the team sometimes), but for the most part, they would be exceptionally lucky to get more than 5k/year.
> 
> Bear in mind that the minimum salary for a Divison 1 ProTour team rider is 30k. Now that's the "big leagues" as far as pro cyclists go, so convert that back to a Division III rider or a domestic rider, and it converts to not very much. I would be surprised if half of the peloton made any salary at all, and also, for most teams, there is no health insurance either, and bike racing can be dangerous. Lots of these guys live off what little salary that they have, and race winnings.


That just seems ridiculous to me that health insurance is not covered by the team. In a sport this dangerous that is almost negligent.


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## Under ACrookedSky (Nov 8, 2005)

lemonlime said:


> That just seems ridiculous to me that health insurance is not covered by the team. In a sport this dangerous that is almost negligent.


In the U.S. bike racing does not even qualify for the status of "fringe sport." Think of if this way: Most pros in the U.S. are pros in name only. They would be better off working at McDonald's. That is not an exaggeration. It is like being a ski bum. Something to do in your twenties but eventually you have to grow up, stop mooching off your parents, and get a real job. A few may get lucky, but for every Floyd Landis there are a hundred guys who end their ten year summer with nothing to show for it.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Like wzq622 said, watch The Hard Road. - TF


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## dlbcx (Aug 28, 2002)

Under ACrookedSky said:


> In the U.S. bike racing does not even qualify for the status of "fringe sport." Think of if this way: Most pros in the U.S. are pros in name only. They would be better off working at McDonald's. That is not an exaggeration. It is like being a ski bum. Something to do in your twenties but eventually you have to grow up, stop mooching off your parents, and get a real job. A few may get lucky, but for every Floyd Landis there are a hundred guys who end their ten year summer with nothing to show for it.


I remember doing a local group ride in the Bay area and being behind Dylan Casey (a former Postal racer), who was talking to another rider. Dylan was telling him that he was going to hang up the bike and the guy said, 'Why?! You get to race with the Postal team!' Dylan said that he was barely making enough to eat so when he got an offer from a local startup to make $100k/year, he couldn't turn it down. Oh yeah, I believe Dylan works at Google so he didn't make out too bad!!


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## magnolialover (Jun 2, 2004)

*D3 teams..*



Mootsie said:


> I googled the 2005 UCI rider agreement and it states the minimums for both new and seasoned riders. The amounts are stated in euros in the agreement and I converted into approximate US dollars.
> New rider Other rider
> Continental teams $23,700 $27,200
> UCI Pro Tour teams $28,500 $35,500
> ...


D3 teams, or whatever they're called these days, are not required to pay their riders one cent if they don't want to. That's it, 0 dollars.

There are some big races in the US though that pay big dollars which is why you'll see some of the domestic pro teams fighting it out pretty hard for wins in those races. Philly Week is a good example, the $125000 crit in Charlotte, is another race that pays big. So even if they don't get paid a whole ton o' money, or any, they can, if they race well, generally get some good money winning or placing in races around the calendar, and also, they will normally get a split when others on their team do well, which is normally enough for some to compete on during the year.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

magnolialover said:


> D3 teams, or whatever they're called these days, are not required to pay their riders one cent if they don't want to. That's it, 0 dollars.


That's the funny part of the whole system. D3 riders are not considered "professionals" by the UCI, and have no part of the professional unions.

From what I have read, they make little to nothing from their teams. As Mag said, prize winnings make up the bulk of their income, along with coaching fees and those sorts of things.

Silas


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## dagger (Jul 22, 2004)

*Wow*

I will probably make as much as an average US pro cyclist this year then? At year end I should get a check for $600 based on the amount of races I plan on entering this year with my team. If I place I can get more.


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## magnolialover (Jun 2, 2004)

*Nah...*



dagger said:


> I will probably make as much as an average US pro cyclist this year then? At year end I should get a check for $600 based on the amount of races I plan on entering this year with my team. If I place I can get more.


Not likely. If your team wins one of the bigger races, the guy coming across the line gets a $25,000 check (US Pro and Charlotte crits), even split 6 ways, that's still a good amount of coin, not to mention that prize lists for the bigger races will pay 50 or more places deep. These guys can rake in some good cash, if they're good. Or if their team is good, and they contribute. 

$600 might get you "paid" more than those guys, but they're still ahead of you in free gear, travel, and entry fees.


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## dagger (Jul 22, 2004)

*Lol..*



magnolialover said:


> Not likely. If your team wins one of the bigger races, the guy coming across the line gets a $25,000 check (US Pro and Charlotte crits), even split 6 ways, that's still a good amount of coin, not to mention that prize lists for the bigger races will pay 50 or more places deep. These guys can rake in some good cash, if they're good. Or if their team is good, and they contribute.
> 
> $600 might get you "paid" more than those guys, but they're still ahead of you in free gear, travel, and entry fees.


I know ...I know but I am just going to be happy to get some money back for my team kit anyway.


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## Soggy Feed Bag (Jan 13, 2006)

I train with a friend who rode for a D3 team, never remember the new name. Anyway, he made 8k in earnings for 2005 on splits/payouts etc. They do give him a salary, however they deduct out the bike, clothing, travel, races, feres, etc. so he pretty much gets no weekly check from his team.

As for D2 teams, he told me that each rider gets a base salary of 28k that they actually receive in pay on top of their bikes, travel, etc. 

Either way, you really can't retire at 35 from the pro-ranks and not work the rest of your life.


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