If he were American, he’d make millions

Cyclist Peter Sagan earns hundreds of thousands of euros annually from advertising

Although the cycling season has already ended, Slovakia’s representative Peter Sagan (25) remains constantly in the public eye. Several times a day, he smiles from television screens, currently showing his acting talent in advertising campaigns. How much does this bring him annually? Quite a lot. But if he weren’t from Slovakia, it could be much more. Abroad, a star of his calibre would earn a significantly larger sum.

Despite his young age, he has already achieved a great deal. (…) His star continues to rise year after year, but so far, this hasn’t translated into major success in the international marketing arena. In Slovakia, Peter Sagan works with two major partners – Telekom and Citroën. (…) “He’s an athlete of world-class level, comparable to stars in other sports. However, he hasn’t yet signed any major international deal,” noted licensing agent Jozef Tokos. His advertisements with eyewear and bicycle manufacturers are linked to his Tinkoff-Saxo team. Why is that? “Peter has an international management team, and it’s hard to criticise them. But it’s certain that if he were from another country where cycling is also popular and there’s a bigger domestic market, he’d have a much better starting position,” compared Tokos. In principle, that means if Sagan were British, French, or – heaven forbid – American, a lucrative international deal would likely already be signed. “It could even be a seven-figure amount,” emphasised the expert.

Tokos believes that despite the “handicap” of coming from a small country, this could happen soon. “He’s been a star in the peloton for a long time, and now that he’s become world champion, that will certainly help him,” he said. In the current Forbes ranking of the highest-paid athletes, there is no cyclist in the top 100. From the professional peloton, the only regular name there was seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who later had all his titles stripped for doping. In 2004, for example, he ranked 24th with an annual income of €17.32 million, most of it coming from advertising.