Who works harder? Who works longer?

This is patently unfair.

James Raia over at the Cycling Examiner had an article today about the salaries for professional cyclists. While the stars certainly earn more, here’s the bare minimum for the grunts:

In 2009, the agreed-upon minimum wages were 33,000 euros ($46,200) for ProTour racers, 27,500 euros ($38,500) for Professional Continental racers, 26,700 euros ($37,380) for neo-professional ProTour racers and 23,000 euros ($32,200) for neo-professional riders in the Professional Continental ranks.

Compare this with the salaries in the  NBA:

The minimum salary for the 2009-2010 season in the National Basketball Association is $457,588 for first-year players and $1,306,455 for players with 10 or more years of experience.

The professional cycling season essentially runs from January through early October. In that time period there are nearly countless races that a rider could be placed into. The NBA season goes from early November through the middle of June (82 games). A first year bench warmer would play nowhere near that many games.

So, a cyclist’s season is longer.

An average race probably lasts at least twice as long as a basketball game.

Then there’s the element of risk. You’re more than likely not going to get killed playing basketball. Cyclists aren’t out there dying every year, but you don’t see many hoops players tumbling down 150ft deep ravines either. All this while sacrificing your own chance at glory in order to break the wind for your team leader.

Let’s not get started on the question of use of illegal substances….

Tags: cycling, national basketball association, NBA, neo pro, salaries