Tadej Pogacar’s record €13 million 2026 earnings reported as Vuelta and Worlds offer another €750,000

Tadej Pogacar is reportedly on course to earn at least €13 million across the 2026 season, with victory at the Vuelta a Espana and World Championships capable of adding another €750,000 before the year is out.

According to a new breakdown from La Gazzetta dello Sport, the five-time Tour de France winner receives an €8 million salary from UAE Team Emirates – XRG, with sponsorship agreements, merchandising and performance bonuses taking his income into territory never previously seen in professional cycling.

His fifth Tour victory has already secured one of the largest bonuses in that total.

The Vuelta and Worlds now offer two more lucrative targets alongside the sporting history still available to him.

The largest part of Pogacar's income remains his UAE Team Emirates – XRG contract, which is reportedly worth €8 million per season and runs until the end of 2030.

His commercial portfolio then adds another €2.5 million. Pogacar currently has 10 major personal partnerships, including Colnago, DMT, MET, Continental, Enervit, the Slovenian tourist board, MyWhoosh, KuCoin, Richard Mille and Whoop.

Rather than continue adding sponsors, Pogacar's representatives have reportedly made a deliberate decision to keep that list limited in order to avoid oversaturating his image. His relationship with DMT is particularly notable, with the footwear agreement described as a lifetime deal. Merchandising contributes another €1 million to the overall figure, while results on the road account for a further €1.5 million already guaranteed in 2026.

Pogacar's fifth Tour victory earned him a reported €1 million bonus. Another €500,000 is tied to finishing the season as the number one rider in the UCI ranking. The rest of Pogacar's prize-money earnings this season have come from an extraordinary run of victories that includes Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour de Romandie, Tour de Suisse and Tour de France.

The confirmed elements therefore amount to at least €13 million. Victory at the Vuelta would add another €500,000, while retaining the world road race title would reportedly be worth €250,000, taking the total to at least €13.75 million if he wins both.

Fresh from becoming only the fifth rider in history to win the Tour de France five times, Pogacar will return to Grand Tour competition at the Vuelta later this month. Victory there would complete his collection of all three Grand Tours after his 2024 Giro d'Italia success and five Tours.

His representation remains in the hands of Alex and Johnny Carera through A&J All Sports, with Pogacar now one of the most commercially valuable athletes cycling has produced.

Gazzetta reports that the expectation is for Pogacar to remain connected to the Emirati team for the rest of his career, and potentially beyond it. A further contract extension through 2031 or 2032 has been discussed as a possibility, although no decision has yet been made. Pogacar has also told those close to him that he sees no reason to leave. "I'll stay here forever," he is quoted as saying. "I feel very good here and I have no desire to change."

His eventual retirement timeline may also be influenced by the career of fiancee Urska Zigart, who is contracted to AG Insurance – Soudal through 2028.

Agent Alex Carera told Gazzetta that Pogacar directs at least €1 million every year towards charity and the youth team carrying his name. "But the thing that really makes him unique, different from everyone else, is the amount of resources he dedicates to charity and to the youth team with his name," Carera explained. "We are talking about a total figure of at least one million euros a year. It's not common."

The Pogi Challenge, held in Slovenia immediately after the Tour de France, is part of that wider operation, with proceeds from race-related products also feeding into the Tadej Pogacar Foundation.

Pogacar will start the Vuelta a Espana in Monaco on 22 August, seven years after finishing third and winning three stages on his Grand Tour debut. Victory this time would complete his Grand Tour collection and trigger another €500,000 bonus on top of an already record-breaking 2026 income.