Giro d'Italia 2026 prize money: Full breakdown and key figures

The Giro has been paying its riders since the very first edition back in 1909, and the story of that inaugural prize fund is genuinely charming. 

The organisers didn't have the money to put the race on, never mind reward the winners. So they sent an accountant called Primo Bongrani out around Italy to ask businesses for donations. A casino in San Remo eventually came good with most of the cash. Even Corriere, the rival newspaper to La Gazzetta dello Sport, chipped in 3,000 lire.

Luigi Ganna, the first ever winner, took home 5,325 lire. The last-placed rider got 300. The race director, somewhat awkwardly, was paid 150 lire a month, half what the man who finished dead last in his own race was making.

The Giro has grown a lot since then, but it has always sat in the Tour de France's shadow when it comes to prize money. By the early 2020s, the total purse was around €1.3 million. By 2025 it had pushed up to €1.6 million, and that's roughly where it sits today.

As the organiser of the Giro d’Italia, RCS Sport puts one of cycling’s biggest prize pots on the table. For the 2026 edition, more than €1.6 million is up for grabs, in line with last year’s race. 

This is in comparison to the €2.3 million prize purse at the Tour de France and the €1.1 million awarded at the Vuelta a España.

A large sum of the €1.6 million goes to the general classification prizes, but there’s plenty more to race for, from stage wins to the different jersey competitions.

Let’s start with the big one: the general classification.

Unlike the Tour, the Giro splits its GC prize money into two separate pots. There's a standard fund that RCS pays out every year, and a "Special Prize" fund that depends on which sponsors come good. In 2025, both were paid in full, meaning Simon Yates walked away with €265,668 for winning the race overall.

Wearing the pink jersey itself pays €2,000 per stage. Hold it for the whole race and that's another €42,000 in your pocket on top of the GC prize.

€11,010 is awarded daily to the winner of each of the 21 stages that make up the Giro. Those who finish on the stage podium earn €5,508 for 2nd, and €2,753 for 3rd. There are daily prizes for the first 20 finishers on each stage, down to €276.

In total, €27,540 is handed out in daily prize money for stage finishes, which equals a total of €578,340 at the end of 21 stages. 

The points jersey goes to the rider who racks up the most points across the three weeks, mainly through stage finishes and intermediate sprints. The overall winner earns €10,000, with €8,000 for second, €6,000 for third, and prizes running down to €3,000 for fifth.

The riders who place in the top three on the daily classification by points prizes receive €700, €400 and €200, and the wearer of the jersey picks up an extra €750 every day they have it on their back.

The blue jersey is awarded to the best climber. The overall winner receives €5,000, with prizes running down to €1,000 for fifth place. Each categorised climb pays €700, €400 and €200 to the first three riders over the top, while the daily jersey wearer pockets €750.

It can add up quickly if you hold the jersey for a sustained spell, as Lorenzo Fortunato showed last year on his way to winning the classification.

The winner of the young rider classification earns €10,000, with the top 5 riders in the classification at the end of the race earning a prize. 

The same daily bonus structure of €750 a day for the wearer of the jersey at the end of each stage is awarded

The team classification rewards the strongest collective effort throughout the Giro d'Italia. It's based on the cumulative time of each team’s best three riders per stage, with the team winning the classification earning €5,000.

Daily team prizes pay €500, €300 and €100 to the top three teams on each stage, adding another €18,900 in team money across the race.

The Giro has always been generous with its smaller prizes. The kind that makes a stage hunter's afternoon feel worthwhile even when if the stage win goes elsewhere.

The Fighting Spirit award goes to the most combative rider on each stage. They wear a red race number the next day and pocket €1,000 for the privilege. The overall most combative rider of the entire Giro picks up €5,000 at the end, with €4,000 and €3,000 for second and third.

The Fuga prize is the breakaway one. Spend more kilometres than anyone else in a clear breakaway of ten or fewer riders, and you take home €3,800 at the end of the race, plus €200 a day on every stage you do it on.

The Red Bull KM is the new one. Introduced in 2025 to replace the old Intergiro classification, it's basically a bonus sprint at a designated kilometre on each stage. €500 to the winner each day, down to €100 for fifth, plus €8,000 to the overall winner of the classification at the end. Here's a full explainer of what the Red Bull KM is and how it works.

This is the bit that surprises people who don't follow the sport closely. The named winner of the Giro d'Italia doesn't actually keep their €265,668. Cycling tradition has it that prize money is pooled and split among the team. Riders, mechanics, soigneurs, the lot. 

Usually one rider, often the road captain, is appointed as the team's "accountant" and handles the distribution after the race ends. Every team has its own formula. But the upshot is that the man on the podium in Rome takes a slice rather than the whole pie.

That tradition matters more at the Giro than the Tour. The smaller teams that ride the Italian race, the wildcards and the ProTeams, depend on the prize money in ways the WorldTour giants don't. Polti VisitMalta, the Italian outfit part-owned by Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso, took home €58,183 in 2025 just from prize money. For a team operating on a fraction of a WorldTour budget, that's a real contribution to their season, not just a nice bonus.

So as the Giro rolls out of Bulgaria on 8 May, with Vingegaard the favourite to take home that winner's cheque, the cash on offer is only a small part of the conversation. But for the smaller teams quietly racing for stage results, breakaway prizes and team classification places, every euro counts. And that's part of what makes the Giro the Giro.