UAE or Visma - Which team has earned the most prize money at the end of week 1 at La Vuelta?

The first nine stages of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana have already left their mark not only on the overall classification, but also on the distribution of prize money The official table shows the supremacy of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, which has netted 45,675 Swiss Francs, clearly outshining the competition.

The team led by João Almeida has not only set the pace on the road, but has also secured a comfortable margin in the prize box, a direct reflection of its constant presence in the top places and the victories it has already achieved - at the TTT, with Jay Vine and Juan Ayuso thus far.

Close behind is Team Visma | Lease a Bike, with 37,580 Swiss Francs, followed by Alpecin - Deceuninck, which has accumulated 33,930. Both teams have shown consistency, although without the same regularity of victories as Emirates.

Lidl - Trek (21,150) and Israel - Premier Tech (20,455) complete the top-5, confirming themselves as competitive blocs in this first half of the race. Both have managed to place riders in successful escapes and in the fight for stages.

It's not all cash in hand, as some teams had their prizes reduced by the fines imposed by the race stewards. INEOS Grenadiers, who collected 16,635 Swiss Francs, paid 300 Swiss Francs in fines, leaving them with a final balance of 16,035 Swiss Francs. A similar situation prevailed for Arkéa - B&B Hotels, which lost CHF 900, ending the first part of the race with a net CHF 6,725.

Other fines include Movistar Team (200 Swiss Francs), XDS Astana Team (300), EF Education - EasyPost (300), Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale (600), Soudal Quick-Step (300), Lotto (500), Team Jayco AlUla (200) and Cofidis (500). Intermarché - Wanty was the most penalized team, with 1,000 Swiss Francs in fines, which after being deducted from the 3,980 won, leaves them with a profit of just 2,980 Swiss Francs at the end of the first week.

At the bottom of the table, some teams haven't yet managed to turn their efforts into significant prizes. Team Picnic PostNL has just 2,630CHF, while Burgos Burpellet BH, the guest team, has 750 Swiss Francs so far.

With still two weeks of racing to go, it's expected that the prize hierarchy will continue to change, particularly with the high mountain stages that could redefine both the fight for the podium and the distribution of winnings.

The same two teams are expected at the top, and naturally this will also be the case if Vingegaard and Almeida top the charts in the final overall classification.