Updated July 20, 2026 09:15AM
Tadej Pogačar and UAE Are Hogging Nearly All the Tour de France Prize Money
Pogačar and UAE have already banked more than double the Tour de France prize money earned by their closest rivals and the gap will only grow before Paris.
UAE is dominating the Tour de France prize money, and teams like Tudor have barely covered gas money. (Photo: Gruber Images)
Tadej Pogačar and UAE Emirates-XRG aren’t just crushing the 2026 Tour de France, they’re cashing in as well.
Two weeks into the Tour, Pogačar and his superteam UAE squad have banked more than double the second-place squad.
Pogi’s troops have earned €124,530 so far, thanks to the team’s five stage wins — four from Pogačar and one from Isaac del Toro — as well as consistency across all Tour categories.
Lidl-Trek sits a distant second at €58,400, less than half of UAE’s haul, while Soudal Quick-Step and Decathlon-CMA CGM round out the top four, both hovering in the low €40,000s (see list below).
At the other end of the scale is Team Picnic PostNL, which brings up the rear with a paltry €5,270.
Prize money is awarded daily for stage winners, GC placings, jersey rankings, and other random primes across the Tour route.
Total prize money distributed so far across all 23 teams stands at €606,000, meaning UAE alone has claimed more than a fifth of the entire pot.
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That’s a stark reminder of how lopsided prize money can be in the superteam era when the richest teams can afford to hire the best riders.
With one week of racing still to go, that gap has plenty of room still to grow.
The Tour de France will pay out roughly €2.3 million total in Paris, with the largest sums still to come for the yellow jersey, the general classification, and the other major jerseys.
Prize money doesn’t cover rider salaries — that comes from multi-million-dollar team sponsors — but it is split among riders and staff at the end of the Tour.
So for teams that haven’t won stages or have a high-placed GC rider, there won’t be many bonuses to cash out once the race hits Paris.
With Jonas Vingegaard out of the Tour after Sunday’s crash, Visma-Lease a Bike — now fifth with €37,050 — is looking at one of its worst Tours ever for prize money, since the Dane won’t be around to collect a final podium payout.
With six stages left to go in the 2026 Tour, Pogačar looks like a lock for the yellow and polka-dot jerseys. Del Toro is also fighting for the podium and the white jersey, and UAE isn’t hiding its interest in chasing the team classification, too.
UAE’s domination in Paris could be complete — both on the bike and in the bank.
2026 Tour de France — Prize Money by Team Week 2
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 Intermarché: €27,560
XDS Astana: €25,220
EF Education-EasyPost: €23,760
Jayco AlUla: €23,530
NSN Cycling Team: €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 Team: €5,560
Groupama-FDJ United: €5,420
Picnic PostNL: €5,270
Total: €606,000