Cyclist
How much is the 2024 Tour de France prize money?
For the 2024 edition of the Tour de France a grand total of €2,308,200 is on offer. There’s an 11.82% sub to the riders’ union on top, which takes that up to €2,581,029 (around £2.2m/$2.8m).
The majority of this is split between the top general classification riders, with ample returns also going to stage winners, the top sprinters, each stage’s most combative rider, and the rider who crosses the Tour de France’s highest peak first.
The total prize money is unchanged from last year, when Jonas Vingegaard topped the podium. The Dane enters the Tour de France having seen his season derailed by the fallout from a severe injury picked up at the Itzulia Basque Country in the spring. Eternal Tour rival Tadej Pogačar, meanwhile, returns to the Tour having won the Giro d’Italia in dominant fashion in May.
The overall winner of the maillot jaune will win €500,000, with the runner-up taking home €200,000 and third getting €100,000.
The Tour prize pot is considerably greater than even the likes the Giro d’Italia, where the total prize money in 2024 was €1.5m and the race winner Pogačar received €265,000, with second place Dani Martínez getting €133,000 and third €68,000.
It’s also worth mentioning that whereas many one day races now offer equal prize money for the men’s and women’s races, the winner of the Tour de France Femmes wins just €50,000 and the total prize pot is €250,000, despite both races being owned by the ASO.
Of note is that the Tour de France’s press office posts regular updates on how much money each team has earned throughout the stages, which can be a good indicator for how each of them is doing overall. This also includes fines picked up for minor rule breakages as well.
For now, let’s dig into the Tour de France’s money bags.
Yellow jersey
Aside from the coveted final yellow jersey, the overall winner of the Tour de France will take home €500,000. For every stage along the way that a rider wears yellow, meanwhile, they will add €500 to their winnings.
Outside the €200,000 and €100,000 prizes for whoever ends up on the lesser two steps of the final podium, riders down to 19th in the general classification will earn diminishing cash prizes from €70,000 down to €1,100.
After that, each rider will collect €1,000 if they cross the finish line in Paris sitting above 160th. Think of this as a financial participation medal.
The majority of the overall prize money is given out in the GC classification.
- €500,000
- €200,000
- €100,000
- €70,000
Stage wins
All 21 stages are given the same amount of prize money, regardless of the stage’s status or difficulty.
The winner of each stage gets €11,000 and every rider in the top 20 on each day will rake in some prize money, with 20th place taking home €300.
- €11,000
- €5,500
- €2,800
Green jersey
The green jersey, or maillot vert in French, is worn by the rider who accumulates the most points at stage finishes and intermediate sprints. The leader of this classification is usually the best sprinter in the race.
For every stage they keep the maillot vert, riders will get €300.
Not to be snubbed, victory at an intermediate sprint affords €1,500, while second and third take home €1,000 and €500 respectively. This is usually fought out by the breakaway.
The final overall points classification has a bigger prize pot, with the winner claiming €25,000.
- €25,000
- €15,000
- €10,000
Polka dot jersey
It gets slightly more complicated for the King of the Mountains jersey.
Riders first over the summit of each categorised climb rake in between €5,000 and €200, depending on the difficulty of the climb as deemed by the race organisers. This is on a scale from hors-catégorie (out of category) – often written as HC – to categories 1, 2, 3 and 4. This scale of difficulty dictates the points distributed over the climb and the prize money dished out (as well as how many riders are categorised).
Hors-catégorie climb
- €800
- €450
- €300
First category climb
- €650
- €400
- €150
Second category climb
- €500
- €250
For a third category climb, the first rider over the top gets €300, while it’s €200 for a fourth category climb. Everyone else gets nothing.
To add to the complexity, there is a special prize on offer, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, named in honour of the Tour’s creator and first race director. It’s awarded to the rider that is first over the Tour’s highest peak each year, which is often the 2,642m Col du Galibier in the Alps, where a monument to Desgrange sits. This year the Galibier is scaled on Stage 4, but won’t be the highest point of the race. Instead the Souvenir Henri Desgrange will be awarded on the 2,802m Cime de la Bonette, which the riders face on Stage 19. The prize is worth €5,000.
There’s a second €5,000 prize, the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, for the first rider to the top of the 2,115m Col du Tourmalet on Stage 14. It’s named in honour of the second director of the Tour de France.
Wearing the polka-dot jersey is worth €300 for each stage. Prizes for the King of the Mountains overall are the same as for the points classification:
- €25,000
- €15,000
- €10,000
White jersey
A small, but perfectly formed award, the white jersey is given to the highest rider in the general classification under the age of 25. The highest under-25 finisher on each stage wins a €500 boost and a day in the jersey provides €300.
The top four young riders overall at the end get the following:
- €20,000
- €15,000
- €10,000
- €5,000
Most aggressive rider
The next prize award in our list goes to the most combative rider.
For each stage, the rider who has ridden the most aggressively is awarded the most combative rider prize, earning €2,000 and being given a red race number, or dossard, for the next day’s stage. Nowadays, this is decided by an online poll.
The super combatif award is handed to the rider deemed the most aggressive throughout the entire race. The nominees are judged by an online vote and a jury decision. For the lucky winner, a neat cheque of €20,000 comes for all those efforts.
Team classification
Finally, the team award.
This is determined by the cumulative time of each team’s three fastest finishers on each stage and is distributed between riders and staff. For each stage, it’s worth €2,800. The team in pole position in this classification gets to wear a yellow helmet.
The overall team classification is worth:
- €50,000
- €30,000
- €20,000
Best team member
Each week, there’s a prize for the rider whom the jury and a public vote consider the best team rider of the week. In French, this is called the meilleur équiper, and is described by the race organisers to honour a rider ‘often in the shadow of their team’s star’.
These are decided after stages 9, 15 and 19. This weekly prize is worth €3,000.
In 2023, awards were given to Wout van Aert (week one), Sepp Kuss (week two), and Mathias Skjelmose (week three).
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