Jul 3rd, 09. Salaries.  Can you really make a good living as a cyclist? How much does a pro cyclist get paid? How much does it cost to run a pro team?

Every year, auditors Ernst & Young (E&Y) prepare a report for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on the economic situation of the professional peloton (UCI ProTeams and UCI Professional Continental Teams).   This year's report was released by the UCI this morning.

Pro Team Budgets

• At this moment there are 20 active UCI Professional Teams.
• The average 2009 budget for these teams is €8.6m or roughly NZ$19m at today's exchange rate.
• This represents a 30% increase in the team budgets since 2003.
• The lowest budget in the pro-tour this year is €3.7m

Rider salaries

• The average salary of a ProTeam rider is €190,000 (NZ$423,000)
• Less than 15% of the Pro Team riders earn less than €40,000 (NZ$89,000)
• Average salary of a Pro Continental rider is €60,000 (NZ$134,000)

"This means that the majority of riders on UCI ProTeams have a good, or indeed very good, salary. The percentage of athletes in a precarious financial situation in this category has become negligible. As for UCI Professional Continental Teams, an increasingly large proportion of riders can live well - and even very well - from their profession," said the UCI statement.

Four years ago there was some concern about the level of "pedalling poor". More than half the riders in Pro Continental teams earned less than €27,000 (NZ$60,000).  This year no rider earns less than this amount.

"This latter result arises from the joint agreements reached by the representatives of the teams (AIGCP) and the riders (CPA)," said the UCI statement.

Jonathan Vaughters, President of the AIGCP (Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels) and Manager of the UCI ProTeam Garmin-Slipstream, is delighted by this progress.

"It is very encouraging to see how far professional cycling has come in the last ten years. Cycling continues to provide the best investment value of any sport for its sponsors. As we move forward, we need to continue to seek new ways to attract fans and additional revenue models to help support the higher dollar figures now in play at the ProTour level. Good progress has been made and it is up to us as a sport to continue that progress."

Cédric Vasseur, President of the CPA (Cyclistes Professionnels Associés), the organisation that represents professional riders, also considers the figures to be very positive.

"I'm delighted by this encouraging development. The most renowned riders, of course, but also a large number of riders who we would situate in the middle of the group, have benefited from it. I am now confident that athletes with lower incomes will be able to see these increase; this will happen, notably, with a rise in the minimum salary envisaged by the joint agreement between the AIGCP and the CPA."