Luxury on the line: why Pogacar and Van der Poel wear €300K watches in the heat of the battle

In the same race, Mathieu van der Poel thundered to victory, also wearing the same Richard Mille model. Two of cycling’s fiercest rivals, united by a watch so expensive it almost seems absurd in a sport obsessed with saving grams. Why would anyone wear a luxury watch through the mud and chaos of a race like Paris-Roubaix? 

The answer lies somewhere between sponsorship and showmanship.

Cycling and watches have been linked far longer than Richard Mille’s recent splash into the sport. In the early days of the Tour de France, mechanical watches were part of a rider’s basic equipment, a simple tool for pacing and navigation before bike computers existed. 

By the nineties, watch brands had become major sponsors. Festina even gave its name to one of the most dominant teams of the era before a doping scandal transformed the brand’s place in cycling history. 

Tissot still serves as the official timekeeper of the Tour, a reminder that timekeeping and cycling have been intertwined for more than a century.

Yet the tradition was always modest. A podium watch here, a sponsor logo there. What Richard Mille has introduced is something different: a watch as a central part of the athlete’s image, not a ceremonial accessory but a piece of wearable luxury that today’s champions pin on before plunging into mud, rain and cobblestones.

Richard Mille does not position itself as a traditional watchmaker. Its designs are loud, futuristic and engineered from the same materials used in aerospace and Formula One. But the real reason the brand appears on the wrists of cycling’s biggest stars has less to do with engineering, and everything to do with visibility.

The RM 67-02 worn by Pogačar and Van der Poel is a perfect example. It weighs just 32 grams and is built from carbon composites and grade 5 titanium, making it light enough to vanish on the wrist yet strong enough to survive the brutality of Roubaix or a full cyclocross mud bath. But performance is only half the story. Richard Mille wants its watches in the thick of the action, not locked away in a podium box. And to achieve that, the brand has spent years building a presence inside cycling’s inner circle.

Mark Cavendish was one of the early converts. The legendary sprinter has worn Richard Mille models in some of the most photographed moments of his career, including the day he claimed his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win. 

After him came Julian Alaphilippe, who sported the same RM 67-02 during the 2020 season, flashing it on podiums and in breakaways. These riders helped establish the template: a luxury brand with the budget and ambition to place its product directly inside the sport’s fiercest moments.

Pogačar and Van der Poel represent the next evolution of that strategy. Both sit at the absolute top of the modern peloton, both draw enormous media attention, and both race with an aggression that guarantees they end up on screen. A watch on their wrist is not a fashion choice. It is a placement. A riding billboard.

Which brings us back to the question: why would any rational athlete wear a luxury watch through the mud of Liévin or across the jagged pavé of Arenberg? 

For the riders themselves, the decision to wear a Richard Mille is not just about taking a sponsorship deal. It is about what the watch represents.

Both Pogačar and Van der Poel know the RM 67-02 adds no watts. At 32 grams, it barely moves the scale, but it does not make them faster either. Van der Poel even wears a second device on his other wrist, a Whoop band purely for data, because the Richard Mille tells time and nothing else. One wrist for performance, one for prestige. 

It is a strange combination, yet it sums up modern elite sport perfectly. You optimise for the smallest physical gains, but as an athlete, you live in a time where you can also build an identity that extends far beyond the bike.

For the riders, the watch is not a trophy but a platform. When they line up with a Richard Mille on their wrist, they know the cameras will find it. They know millions of people will notice. And they know that being associated with a brand worn by Rafael Nadal, Fernando Alonso, or Lando Norris pulls them into a different orbit. It signals that you are not just a strong rider, but a global figure. A positing that comes with value. Both throughout your career and once it has ended.

But there is also a risk to strapping a house down payment to your wrist. High-end watches have become prime targets for theft, and cyclists are no exception. 

Mark Cavendish suffered a violent home invasion in 2021 where attackers held a knife to his throat while stealing two Richard Mille watches valued at more than £700,000 combined. Cavendish and his family were traumatised. The thieves wanted only the watches. Nothing else mattered.

Pogačar experienced a different kind of theft when criminals tricked their way into his hotel room during Paris-Nice 2023 and stole his limited edition Richard Mille, a piece gifted to him after the Tokyo Olympics. It was valued at €300,000 and has never been recovered. Speaking to the court, Pogačar admitted surprise at how quickly the thieves managed to sell it without papers or a box.

These watches are not just eye-catching accessories. They are also magnets for criminals. 

Yet none of it has stopped the sport’s biggest stars from strapping a small fortune to their wrist, trusting that time will stay on their side.