There’s something about seeing Tadej Pogačar ride a bike that’s almost hard to understand. He was born in Ljubljana and grew up in Klanec, a small village just north of the capital. The Slovenian cyclist doesn’t seem to be doing anything strange. It seems like everyone else on the road around him is always in worse shape. He is so quiet and yet so strong, and that contrast has made him the most important person in professional cycling and, not surprisingly, one of the highest earners in the sport. Tadej Pogačar’s net worth is thought to be $15 million as of 2026.
That number needs some background. Bicyclists have never been the type of athletes who can retire rich. In football and basketball, salaries are inflated to crazy high levels by TV contracts. But in road cycling, salaries are based on team salaries, race bonuses, and sponsorship deals. PogaÍar’s earnings show the highest point that this sport can go. He has reached a level that not many cyclists in history have ever reached.
His base comes from his contract with UAE Team Emirates XRG, a team that was put together with his skills in mind and backed by Emirati investment. The exact amount of money the team pays him is not made public, but estimates from people in the sport put it at around several million euros a year. At that level, teams aren’t afraid to spend money on a rider who wins races, and Pogačar has won so many that it’s almost scary.
Early on, the wins started to come in. At age 19, he won the Tour de l’Avenir. Then, on the second-to-last day of the 2020 Tour de France, he shocked the pros by passing Primož Roglič, also from Slovenia, in a time trial that people are still talking about. He was 21 years old. Each win after that—the two Tour de France titles, the Monuments, and the bronze medal at the Olympics—not only made his record better, but it also raised his market value.
The 2024 season really was historic. He won the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the UCI Road World Championships all in the same year. He was only the third man in history to capture all three in a single season. Winning any one of those three is a big deal for your career. When you win all three in a year, it makes you think about what good athletic performance really looks like. Sponsors took note. Brand deals got stronger.
Then July 2026 came along. With his fifth Tour de France win, Pogaëar tied the record set by Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil, and Bernard Hinault. More than six minutes separate him from Remco Evenepoel at the finish line. Five stages were his. He’s 27 years old. On the Champs-Élysées, the youngest rider to ever win five Tour titles rode into Paris. He looked like he still had a lot to give.
It’s hard not to think about how much he could make in the next few years because of that. Most cyclists are at their best between the ages of 20 and 30. PogaÍar has already reached the top, and there aren’t many more records to add. In cycling, sponsorship deals often get better as you do, and he doesn’t seem to be nearing the top of his performance level yet.
The location of his wealth is also interesting. He grew up in a place that most people couldn’t find on a map. When he was nine, he joined a local cycling club with his older brother and worked his way up to a career that has put him on the same level as Merckx. It’s not clear if $15 million fully captures what Pogačar brings to the sport in terms of business, such as to UAE’s brand, to cycling’s global visibility, and to the ongoing rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard that has been the storyline of the Tour de France for three years in a row. The number might not be enough to describe him.
There’s no doubt that the money will keep growing as long as he rides the way he does. He’s not really showing any signs of stopping right now.
