Mathieu van der Poel ended his cyclocross winter in the most prestigious way: with an eighth world title, making him the sole record holder. In addition, several other records were broken, but what exactly did this fantastic winter bring in?
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A nest egg for the thirsty
His cyclo-cross season was completely perfect in terms of sport, but financially it turned out to be no different. In the World Cup, Van der Poel took part in eight heats and won every one of them.
Each victory was worth 5,000 euros, which earned him 40,000 euros there alone. As the final winner of the rankings, an additional 30,000 euros was added.
Van der Poel was also allowed to triumph several times in the X2O Trophy. In Baal and Loenhout, both category 1 crosses, he earned 1,400 euros each time. The competitions in Hofstade and Mol belong to category 2. A victory there earns 350 euros, a total of 700 euros extra for MVDP.
All together this brings the total prize money to 78,000 euros. Thanks to his final position in the X2O Trophy, another 500 euros will probably be added, Het Nieuwsblad calculates, which would bring the absolute final total to 78,500 euros.
Excluding starting fees
However, that amount does not tell the full story. This only concerns official prize money, regardless of the starting premiums that Van der Poel receives. These reportedly fluctuate between 15,000 and 20,000 euros – probably closer to the latter – per race, making his total income from the cyclo-cross season even higher.
