The drop in prizemoney in this year's Giro d'Italia is nearly €200,000, or nearly 15% of the 2004 total of €1.35 million, reports Sportwereld.be. It has outraged the Professional Riders Association (CPA), which has raised its collective voice in protest against organisers RCS Sport. The reduction stems from the fact that broadcaster RAI is not earning enough from the sale of TV rights: the €1.35 million prizemoney had been in place since 2001, but this is the first year that it has dropped. RCS first tried to compensate by trying to reduce the start money for the teams, and that was also unacceptable. Now it seems that RCS is looking for an alternative means to save money.
In contrast, the Tour de France has increased its prizemoney by a whopping 66% since 2001, when it was €1.8 million. This year's Tour will have around €3 million on offer.
