Jan Bakelants calls for reform of cycling prize money

Former professional cyclist Jan Bakelants is calling for a fundamental reform of the prize money system in professional cycling. He criticizes the lack of indexation for prize pools, noting that they have remained largely unchanged for over a decade, unlike UCI fines and permits which are indexed.

Bakelants highlighted a significant disparity in the distribution of wealth, pointing out that ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France, allocates only 0.7 percent of its annual turnover to prize money. He noted that while top male riders earn substantial salaries, the prize money itself is often distributed among the entire team and staff, and is further reduced by double taxation in both the country where it is earned and the rider's country of residence.

Regarding the Tour de France, Bakelants noted that the men's total prize pool was approximately 2.3 million euros, while the women's prize pool was significantly lower at roughly 260,000 euros. He suggested that implementing indexation to correct for years of stagnation could automatically increase the Tour de France prize pool to approximately 4.2 million euros.