Froome’s winnings still behind world’s high rollers
PARIS: Chris Froome picked up
500,000 (RM2.5mil) as his prize for winning the Tour de France – a tidy sum but a relative pittance compared to the huge sums banked by the top names in other sports.
By tradition, the Briton must also shares the spoils of his fourth Tour triumph in five years with his Team Sky colleagues, and not just the riders but the mechanics, the chef, the soigneurs and even the drivers of the team buses.
Last weekend Roger Federer earned £2.2mil (RM12.2mil) when he claimed an eighth Wimbledon title – having spent a total of 11 hours and 37 minutes on court. Put another way that is £3,156 (RM17,600) per minute.
American Jordan Speith, who won the British Open on Sunday, earned US$1.84mil (RM7.87mil) for four rounds of golf at Royal Birkdale.
Soccer salaries in Britain are regularly in excess of £150,000 (RM836,661) per week with Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba earning a reported £290,000 (RM1.62mil) each week.
Froome is the highest-paid rider in the peleton and extremely well remunerated as Team Sky’s boss on the roads, commanding a millionaire’s salary.
His prize money for a gruelling 21-day slog around France is low by comparison with other sporting winners, though, especially when you consider what he put himself through to win one of the closest Tours for years.
The 32-year-old cycled 3,540km over 21 days, gasping up cruel climbs, battling wicked crosswinds and searing heat and surviving one
big crash. He earned roughly 5,800 (RM28,900) for each of the 86 hours he spent in the saddle plus an extra
500 (RM2,492) for each day he wore the yellow jersey.
There are myriad other ways for the riders to earn a few extra euros in the Tour – again all shared with the team. Points jersey winner
Michael Matthews earned 25,000 (RM124,571) for his Sunweb team who also shared the same sum for Warren Barguil’s polka dot jersey for being king of the mountains. – Reuters