Again riders have to wait long for their prize money.  NOS has revealed that dozens of races have exceeded the maximum payout period of ninety days. In total, a sum of several million euros in prize money has not been paid.

According to Dutch site, prize money from more than fifty races, including the Tour de France, Criterium du Dauphine, Tour of Yorkshire, Tour of California, Giro d'Italia and the Clásica San Sebastian, have not been paid.

Apparently, the biggest cause of the delay is the national cycling federations. Thirty days before the start of a race, they receive the prize money and are responsible for the payment. In particular, the prize moneys of 15 French and 13 Spanish races haven’t been paid

According to David Lappartient, the president of the French federation, ASO (Tour de France organizers) ate responsible for the delay due to the introduction of a new way to distribute the money.

"It's very annoying," Reinier Honig tells NOS . Honig recently became a board member of the Dutch Riders’ Union. "For the ’small’ riders with a minimum wage, you can make a reasonable income via prize money. If payments are delayed - sometimes the money don’t arrive at all - that's just annoying.”

The payment of prize money has been a source of problems for several years. In 2015, riders were already had to push ASO hard to get their money.

In an interview with Wielerflits, Honig claims that the payment problems are mainly to the lack of enforcement of the rules. According to him, the UCI do not follow their own rules.  Another cause is thatthe cycling federations keep the money without a good reason, for example to cover gaps in the budget.