So you want to start a pro team
It’s a drunken evening in late February. You and your riding compadres have assembled at the Dog & Duck to talk cycling over a few pints. After discussing your far-fetched power-to-weight ratios, the conversation turns to how you could have been a professional if only you’d been blessed with genetically favourable parents, were raised at altitude and had access to nefarious doctors.
‘You’ve missed that boat,’ slurs your companion. ‘But why not take up the next best option and start your own pro team? Just cash in your cryptocurrency, shift around some stocks and you’re away.’
‘Tempting,’ you ponder. ‘Very tempting. But where do I start?’
Money talks
When forging a professional team, your ambition is inevitably set by budget. The top table is the WorldTour, occupied by the likes of Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates. Their annual budgets are believed to be up to L50 million and are fiscally fuelled by global petrochemical giants and oil. In 2021, the minimum salary for male WorldTour riders was €40,045, with elite riders such as Tadej PogaČar on around €6 million.
Division two is ProContinental where squads are often led by a superstar, who is supported by a cast of anonymous actors. Arkea-Samsic, for example, has a rumoured budget of €10 million a year with 20% of that going to pay Nairo Quintana. Minimum wage at this level is around €31,000.
The third and final step on the professional ladder is Continental. At this level there’s no minimum wage unless you happen to be based in France, where employment law stipulates that your riders must take home some form of payment. ‘Still, a team with no minimum wage seems like a good place to start,’ you think.
‘There’s a chronic lack of funding at the moment, and that’s
