CSC tops Tour in prizes

Team CSC-Saxo Bank not only paid back its new co-title sponsor with a spectacular performance in the Tour de France this year, it lined its own pockets with the lion's share of the prize money on offer. Of the nearly €2 million on offer, the team of overall winner Carlos Sastre took home over €600,000 thanks to its win in the general classification, teams classification and best young rider category with Andy Schleck.

The team's newest sponsor, Saxo Bank, which signed on with the team just before the Tour, will become the team's sole title sponsor for the next three years. Needless to say, bank founders and CEO's Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen were a bit proud of the squad's achievement.

"Watching Carlos Sastre in the yellow jersey and Andy Schleck in the white, side by side, today, armed with nothing but moral fiber and muscles, was amazing," said Fournais. "Although we expected the team to win, we never dared to hope for a victory of this magnitude."

The magnitude of the team's win, measured in euros, is three times as big as that of second placed prize winner Silence-Lotto, which took just €233,450. The Gerolsteiner team, with two stage wins and the mountains classification was third in earnings, with €192,370.

On the other end of the scale, the Lampre team of Damiano Cunego hardly made enough money to pay for the fuel to drive the team car around France. Its leader crashed out in the final week, and the squad took home just €9,840.