Equal Prize Money : Close the Gap!

Close the gap!

The prize money between women & men in cycling has been an ongoing debate for a few years now. Already for decades, it became evident in many countries that men & women get rewarded the same amount of money for the same work. In the cycling world, this is still not completely true. Small improvements have been made but many organizations stay still behind. In this article we try to line-up where improvements have been made and who still has some work left to do. In the end we make a conclusion and express our ambition for the coming years. Let's start with our analysis by a few numbers & data.

Flanders classics paves the road toward equality

The Spring of 2023 was quite historical for women's cycling. For the first time a big series of women's races offered a big equal amount of prize money for both women & men. This meant that both Tadej Pogacar & Lotte Kopecky received 20 000 euros for their victory in the Tour of Flanders.  The female & male winners of the Omloop, Ghent-Wevelgem, Scheldeprijs,... also received an equal amount of prize money. 

ASO still has some work to do

The prize money of the Tour de France is still very unequal. Some will argue that the men are racing 3 weeks and the women only 8 days. But even for a single stage win, the difference is big. While the men earn 11 000 euros a stage, the women only get 4 000 euros when they cross the line first. For their other prestigious race Paris-Roubaix, it's not much better. 30 000 euros for the men, 20 000 euros for the women. One can argue that it's still the same amount as the female winner of the Tour of Flanders, but the 30 % gap within the same race is still something noticeable. We can also appreciate that ASO invested way earlier in women's cycling then their Italian counterpart RCS who still didn't bring Milan-Sanremo & Il Lombardia (back) on the calendar, but it doesn't mean that we can't put the bar a little bit higher for this wealthy organization.

Cyclocross, a lucrative alternative

For women with good technical skill that do not win monuments or grand tours on the road, cyclocross is a good alternative to win a big amount of money. Both genders can earn till maximum 30 000 euros in prize money for their placing in the World Cup standings and the winners of an individual race can win up to 5000 euros. Next to the World Cup there are many other races where riders can win a decent amount of prize money as well. Last year, Fem van Empel won a total of 126 000 euros in prize money, more then any men in this discipline.

Smaller iniatives

Next to these big amounts of money, there are also smaller organizations who work on equality on a smaller scale. The organization Nokere Koerse is an non-WT race who provides about 19 000 euros in total for both genders. The organization of the Women's Tour & the Tour of Brittain also agreed to offer equal prize money for both genders. 

Conclusion

The prize money for women has never been as high as nowadays but it's still noticeable lower then in many men's races. Some organizations have made steps into the right direction but others stay still behind. In times that gender equality became a high priority there can be no discussion anymore about rewarding equal prize money to women & men in at least the one day races & individual stages. Both women & men race for one day on the same day, so deserve an equal reward for the work they deliver. Some might argue that women ride fewer kilometers or slower then their male counterparts but also in the real job market, employees who deliver different results & performances receive the same salary. Prize money is not salary but it is also a reward for performances and hard work that can be easier equalized then the salaries that are even far apart within the men's & women's peloton themselves. Equal appreciation for both genders, let it also be a normal thing in the cycling world.