1. tadej Pogacar
Tadej Pogacar, probably the most sought-after professional cyclist, has signed a long-term contract with UAE Team Emirates. The Slovenian is now employed by the team from the United Arab Emirates until 2030, when he will be 32 years old. There was no information about his salary there. At six million euros per year, he is expected to start in 2023 the top earner in cycling have been. Now he should get even more money.
2. remco Evenepoel
The Belgian turned professional with Soudal - Quick Step in 2019 and is now one of the industry's top stars. With his double Olympic victory and third place at the Tour de France, Evenepoel has had an extremely good season. There have been repeated rumours about the 26-year-old changing careers, to which, however, he finally issued a personal cancellation. His contract with Soudal - Quick Step, which he extended in 2021, runs until 2026.
3. Jasper Philipsen
Evenepoel's compatriot is one of the best sprinters in the world and has recently matured into a classics hunter. Victory at Milan-San Remo and second place at Paris-Roubaix this year have catapulted Philipsen to third place in the world rankings. Shortly before the Tour de France, his racing team Alpecin-Deceuninck has put its money where its mouth is and signed him up. with a new contractwhich is valid until 2028.
4th Ben O'Connor
Second place at the Vuelta a Espana, fourth place at the Giro d'Italia and second at the World Championships - Ben O'Connor has had a formidable season. However, the 28-year-old will be leaving his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team at the end of the year to join Jayco-AlUla in his native Australia. He has signed a two-year contract there until the end of 2026.
5th Mathieu van der Poel
The Dutchman is undoubtedly one of cycling's cross-discipline superstars. In 2024, he finishes fifth in the UCI world rankings after winning the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Just like his team-mate Philipsen, van der Poel is also under contract with Alpecin-Deceuninck until the end of 2028. His last contract extension dated from March 2024.
6 Marc Hirschi
The Swiss rider rode his way to sixth place in the world rankings with victories at the Clasica San Sebastian and the Grand Prix Plouay, among others. He will leave his current sponsor, UAE Team Emirates, at the end of the season. The 26-year-old will join the Tudor Pro Cycling Team, where he has signed until 2027.
7th Jonas Vingegaard
The Tour de France winner from 2022 and 2023 struggled this year after a heavy crash at the Tour of the Basque Country. Despite this, he still managed to finish second in the Tour of France behind Pogacar and seventh in the world rankings. As part of the Visma | Lease a Bike team presentation at the end of 2023, the Dutch racing team announced that the contract with Vingegaard extended until 2028.
8th Primoz Roglic
The Slovenian moved from Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma team to Bora-Hansgrohe ahead of the 2024 season. The team is now called Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe following the acquisition of the Red Bull beverage group. Bora-Hansgrohe did not provide any information about the duration of the Slovenian's contract when he signed. According to our partner portal Procyclingstats, the 34-year-old Vuelta winner is still tied to the German team until the end of 2025.
9th Biniam Girmay
At the Tour de France this year, the man from Eritrea won the green jersey for the best points scorer for Intermarche-Wanty. As a result, the Belgian racing team signed a contract with the 24-year-old, who is ranked ninth in the world, extended until 2028.
10th Wout van Aert
The Belgian was plagued by injuries in 2024. First, a serious crash at the spring classic Quer durch Flandern, then the end of the season in autumn after another crash at the Vuelta a Espana. Despite this, van Aert is still tenth in the world rankings. The 30-year-old's contract model is a rarity in the cycling world. In September, his team Visma | Lease a Bike, to have extended the contract with the superstar until the end of his professional career. It is not clear exactly when that will be.
However, it is also possible that contracts in professional cycling are not always honoured. The most prominent example of this is Cian Uijtdebroeks, who switched to Jumbo-Visma (now Visma | Lease a Bike) at the end of 2023 despite having a current contract with Bora-Hansgrohe. Bora-Hansgrohe initially insisted on the youngster's contract before all three parties finally agreed on a transfer.
