"Tadej Pogacar, for as much star power as he brings to the sport, is massively underpaid!" - Tejay van Garderen reacts to record-breaking new deal for UAE leader

Recently, it was announced by UAE Team Emirates that Tadej Pogacar had been rewarded for his record breaking season in 2024 with a record breaking new contract and becoming the highest paid rider in the peloton as a result. According to American ex-pro Tejay van Garderen though, the Slovenian is still being underpaid!

According to reports, Pogacar's new deal will net him the princely sum of 50 million euros over the next six years, not including bonuses. A ground-breaking deal for the entire sport of cycling, not just Pogacar's bank account. "I definitely like seeing the rock getting pushed up the hill for cycling," Van Garderen says on the latest episode of NBC Sports Cycling's Beyond the Podium podcast. "It's about time the guys are getting the respect that they deserve."

As mentioned though, despite this being an unprecedented deal in professional cycling, Van Garderen still believes Pogacar could be worth much more. "Tadej Pogacar, for as much star power as he brings to the sport, is massively underpaid!" the 34-year-old former Giro d'Italia stage winner exclaims. "As a comparison, if you look at the NBA, 8 million a year would get you someone to come off the bench, a bit of a journeyman. The highest paid guy, Steph Curry gets 45 million a year!"

"I know it's hard to compare, but when I compare it to the times when I was riding, yeah he's getting paid more than Chris Froome was back then or Peter Sagan, around 4-5 million, but that was back in 2012/2013," Van Garderen continues. "The highest paid basketball player in 2012 was Kobe Bryant at 25 million and now it's 45 million for the highest paid guy."

"I don't know what cycling has to do to catch up, but you can't tell me that the viewership is not there," he insists. "Cycling if for everybody around the world. It's a global thing that everyone is watching and if I was Tadej, I'd leverage that in a different way: 'How much does it benefit you to have me at your race? In that case, I'll take 5% of the TV revenue you guys get!' That's when you'll see us getting closer to some of the ball sports."