Up to €20.000 a race - How much Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert receive for start fees in cyclocross

Start fees in cycling are a bit of a tabu for riders, however from the inside there are people that know the values that circle around. In cyclocross perhaps this is more frequent, although the reports on how much it is wildly vary. An 'insider' talked about how much this amount is currently.

This has been reported by Het Laatste Nieuws who talked with an anonymous source that claims the duo can receive up to €20.000 for their presence in an event. Someone like Eli Iserbyt, at the top of the 'full-season pros' list can receive up to €6000. This contradicts the values presented by Gazzetta dello Sport recently which spoke of as much as €50.000. "That is pure nonsense".

"Both for Wout and Mathieu you currently pay 20,000 euros starting money per cyclocross. If they even want to come in function of their preparation for the new road season, because they have only touched on a handful of cyclo-crosses this side."

The two absolute stars race for results, but throughout the season (and mostly the Christmas period) organizers pay fees to convince some of the top riders to take part in the event, bringing in more spectators and TV ratings. It is a sensitive ecosystem that keeps the discipline on it's toes and working in a balanced way. "Anyone who gets Wout van Aert or Mathieu van der Poel or both at the start as an organizer can automatically count on a lot more people,"

He points out clear examples of non-cup cyclocross races during the very busy Christmas period who still had the biggest stars at the start. "Look at Gullegem. On paper one of the smaller cyclocrosses, but thanks to Wout van Aert they had one of the biggest turnouts this winter with 15,000 spectators."