With the 2012 Tour de France in the books, the wild ride is finally over and Great Britain’s own Bradley Wiggins has walked away with the overall win.

While the yellow jersey is enough for most of the cyclists, they will not be turning down all the money they earned with their wins.

According to RoadCycling.co, the winner of the race will receive no less than €450,000 ($547,445.25) and can earn bonuses for time led, jerseys won and other factors. Either way, the winner walks away with a hefty paycheck.

As for the rest of the top three, second place walks away with €200,000 ($243,309.00), while third place walks away with a very respectable €100,000 ($121,654.50). Not too shabby for spending a month of your time exploring the French countryside.

While cycling has been discounted as a sport because of its likeness to something most people did as a child, the judgment may not be as farfetched as many cycling enthusiasts have claimed.

I say this because in true elementary school fashion, everyone who enters the Tour de France gets a prize. All racers earn €400 ($486.61) for finishing the race, which makes all jokes about no one losing very funny.

For complete money breakdown, check out RoadCycling.com.

 

Final Standings

2012 Tour de France Champion: Bradley Wiggins

Place	Cyclist	Overall Time
1	Bradley Wiggins	87:34:47
2	Christopher Froome	+ 3:21
3	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 6:19
4	Jurgen Van Den Broeck	+ 10:15
5	Tejay Van Garderen	+ 11:04
6	Haimar Zubeldia	+ 15:41
7	Cadel Evans	+ 15:49
8	Pierre Rolland	+ 16:26
9	Janez Brajkovic	+ 16:33
10	Thibaut Pinot	+ 17:17

For complete standings in every classification, check the Tour's official site.

 

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