Pinkbike asked bike pros how much they earn. 152 responded. It turns out that men earn twice as much as women, but 18 percent of all respondents do not earn 5,000 francs a year.

The vast majority of the 152 athletes who answered Pinkbike's questions while maintaining their anonymity come from the gravity sector: 49 downhill, 41 enduro and 12 slopestyle/freeride riders compared to 49 cross-country racers. A total of 89 men and 63 women answered the long questionnaire.

The differences between the low earners and the few big names are huge. This is not surprising and is probably the case in most sports that are played professionally. What is more surprising is that two riders who earn more than 500,000 US dollars a year also took the time to answer the questions. The Pinkbike comment column is full of speculation as to who the top earners might be.

At the other end of the scale are the 23.3 percent, or almost a quarter of the responding pros, who earned 5,000 US dollars or less in 2022. It is unclear whether the annual salary refers to the amount after deducting all costs. But even if it is, 5000 dollars is not a living wage. 45 percent of those surveyed earn no more than 20,000 dollars in an entire year.

After all, 18 percent receive 50,000 to 100,000 dollars in their account over the course of a year. 15 percent collect 100,000 dollars or more. Those professionals who do not incur any expenses for their training, competitions and equipment are also likely to make ends meet with 50,000 dollars a year. However, it remains the case that around half of the riders are involved in the sport professionally without really earning anything from it. For just over half of those surveyed, 60 to 80 percent of their income is fixed and the rest is variable. For just under 22 percent, less than 20 percent of their income is fixed regardless of the season.

Women only earn half

If the Pinkbike survey accurately reflects reality, then the professional mountain bike circus is an example of wage inequality. Although the authors only have a few precise figures in this category, the picture is nevertheless clear: female pros earn around half as much as their male colleagues. Almost two thirds (63.5%) of all female participants in the survey earned 20,000 dollars in 2022 or less. 33 percent belong to the category of frontline workers with an annual income of 5,000 dollars or less. And while women are heavily overrepresented in the lower salary segments, men dominate in the upper salary brackets. It would be interesting to know whether the pay inequality among athletes in the Cross Country World Cup is just as unequal, or whether the money is distributed more evenly there.

Not surprisingly, more than 80 percent of women believe that their gender is disadvantaged in terms of pay. In addition, 60 percent of the women surveyed confirm that they have experienced sexism in some form in their sport.

Other questions relate to social media, support from the country of origin, the benefits of a riders' union, dealing with and covering injuries and other aspects relating to riders' income. Click here for the Pinkbike survey.