Tadej Pogačar's UAE Emirates-XRG have amassed more than double the prize money of their nearest competitors at the Tour de France this year so far, according to the race organisers.
That success has been driven by five stage wins for the squad through Pogačar and white jersey wearer Isaac del Toro. Each stage win is worth €11,000 (£9,340), while each day Pogačar spends in the yellow jersey comes with just €500 (£420) in prize money.
The team has collected €124,530 (£105,000) in the first two weeks of the race.
Lild-Trek, the team in second place has got less than half that with €58,400 (£49,000) driven mostly by the consistently high placing, including a stage win, of Mads Pedersen.
The squad is also leading the lucrative but often overlooked teams classification, for which it receives €2,800 each day.
Just behind them in third are Soudal Quick-Step, who, thanks to three stages wins from Tim Merlier, have totted-up a prize fund of €43,890 so far.
There is a prize pot of €2.3m at the Tour de France, but much of this is handed out for the final placings. So far just €606,000 in prizes have been dolled-out to the riders and teams.
At the other end of the prize money table after two thirds of the race is run is Picnic PostNL, who are having a torrid Tour.
The team’s best result is a fifth place for sprinter Pavel Bittner on stage eight into Bergerac. That netted the team €840 (£710/$960) of their €5,270.
Their results in France are matched only by their poor season which has seen them slip to 30th in the UCI team rankings, below many ProTour teams. Their best result has come from Bittner who was second at sprinters' classic Scheldeprijs.
However, there are other teams that are struggling too at this year’s Tour. Groupama-FDJ United have so far banked just €5,420 while Tudor Pro Cycling have won only €5,560.
If Pogačar is able to hang onto to the yellow jersey all the way to Paris then he’ll collect a further €500,000 for the team, plus the prizes for wearing the jersey each day.
Full prize money list after 15 stages
- UAE Emirates-XRG, €124,530
- Lidl-Trek, €58,400
- Soudal Quick-Step, €43,890
- Decathlon CMA CGM, €41,560
- Visma-Lease a Bike, €37,050
- Alpecin-Premier Tech, €34,100
- Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, €32,020
- Uno-X Mobility, €31,460
- Lotto Intermarche, €27,560
- XDS Astana, €25,220
- EF Education-Easypost, €23,760
- Jayco AlUla, €23,530
- NSN Cycling, €18,060
- Pinarello Q36.5, €14,780
- Netcompany-Ineos, €12,080
- TotalEnergies, €10,370
- Movistar, €9,690
- Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, €8,270
- Bahrain Victorious, €7,400
- Cofidis, €6,020
- Tudor Pro Cycling, €5,560
- Groupama-FDJ United, €5,420
- Picnic PostNL, €5,270
