Prize money at the 2016 Tour de France

Over two million euros are on offer over the races 21 stages

Philippe Tremblay July 23, 2016

A total prize pot of €2,295,850 ($3,300,000) is up for the taking over the course of 21 stages during the 2016 Tour de France. Prize money is awarded to stage winners, jersey wearers, classification winners, riders who place highly in the overall classification and more.

As one would expect, the overall general classification winner of the Tour de France walks away with the biggest purse, a cool €500,000. The prize money however doesn’t stop until the 160th position in the GC with the riders placed 20th to 160th each receiving a €1000 award. The second placed rider receives €200,000 and the third placed €100,000. The winner of the yellow jersey traditionally shares his prize with his teammates and team staff as a way of thanking them for the support over the course of the race. There is also a daily reward for holding the yellow jersey, €500.

The winner of the green points jersey receives €25,000. Each intermediate sprint during the race awards cash prizes to the top three riders with €1,500 going to rider to first cross the intermediate sprint line. The wearer of the green jersey receives €300 per day.

The rider who walks away with the polka dot jersey is rewarded €25,000. Along the way riders ammass points but also price money on the 58 classified climbs in the 2016 Tour de France. On the hors category climbs €800 is given to the first rider to crest the top, first category climbs come with €650 with prizes going down to €300 for the rider who first tops a fourth category climb. The wearer of the polka dots each day also receives €300.

The best young rider in the Tour receives a €20,000 prize at the end of the race. For each stage, the top young rider receives €500 and the wearer of the jersey receives €300 per day in the white jersey.

Racing aggressively also comes with a cash reward. Each day the race awards the combativity prize to one rider who receives €2,000 and wears red numbers the next day. The overall super combatif price goes to the rider who raced over the three weeks the most aggressively receiving €20,000 in prize money.

Teams also receive €2,800 in prize money for being at the top in the team classification each stage. The top three riders times on each stage go towards deciding who takes the team classification. The final team classification win comes with a €50,000 award.

There are also special awards handed out throughout the race. For the first rider who reaches the summit of the Tourmalet on Stage 8 they receive the Souvenir Jacques Goddet which comes with a €5,000 prize. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is awarded to the first rider to the top of the port d’Envalira on Stage 10 and is worth €5,000. The Prix Bernard Hinault comes with €5,000 and goes to the rider with the fastest ascent of the côte de Domancy on Stage 18.

In 2015, overall winner Chris Froome’s Team Sky were the top earner leaving the Tour with €556,630. Movistar took home €442,080 collectively lead by Nairo Quintana’s second place in the GC and the young riders white jersey, and Movistart took the team classification. Orica-GreendEdge were the bottom feeders only taking home €10,940.