Trek Distributes $308,000 to Equalize Prize Money for Women and Men in Cycling Races, 2021-2025

Bicycle company Trek paid out approximately $308,000, equivalent to about €263,000, to match prize money for women cyclists at races where female winners received less than their male counterparts between 2021 and 2025, Fortune reported. The effort started at the 2021 Paris-Roubaix Femmes, where the women's winner was awarded €1,535, roughly $1,815 in 2018, while the men's winner received €30,000, about $35,490 in 2018.

Trek covered the difference there and has continued doing so at other races since then.

The amount Trek pays out to match prize money has been decreasing, as more race organizers have begun establishing equal prize purses for men and women, according to the company. The company's CEO said he learned that the company had offered equal prize money at a World Cup cyclocross race.

The issue of unequal prize money in women's cycling became obvious to the CEO around 2017, when the company's CFO visited women's races in Europe.

The CFO told the CEO that most women cyclists in Europe were making less than $10,000 a year, using secondhand bikes, staying at substandard hotels, and being flown in the night before races. When Trek was unable to buy an existing women's cycling team, it started its own.

Trek signed Lizzie Deignan, who was pregnant at the time and ranked number one worldwide after winning the 2015 world road race championship. Deignan said she felt incredibly grateful to Trek for the opportunity to join the team because when she announced her pregnancy, she didn’t know what her future looked like in the sport.

A former Trek employee told Deignan she had received £50 because of Deignan's race wins, as Trek employees get money when women cyclists win. The CEO stated that Trek treats women the same way as men, paying them livable wages, providing the best equipment, great coaching, and taking good care of them. "We said we’re going to treat women the same way the men are treated," the CEO said.

"We’re going to pay them livable wages, we’re going to give them the best equipment, we’re going to give them great coaching. We’re going to take really good care of them the same way we take care of men. " Deignan noted that Trek's equal-prize-money effort was part of broader initiatives that changed the team's culture, creating a ripple effect of momentum and excitement among employees.

She recalled old-school staff in the sport learning to take women's cycling seriously because of Trek's commitment. The CEO said he learned of Trek topping off prize money at professional races from a note by cyclist Ellen van Dijk, who described it as meaningful beyond the financial value.

He emphasized that the company's impact on women's cycling extends through setting an example, multiplying its influence beyond just the Trek team.

Deignan acknowledged ongoing gaps in women's cycling, including media coverage, sponsorships, salaries, and training opportunities, despite progress like the introduction of a minimum wage in the last five or six years. She stated that becoming a professional athlete in every sense transforms performance. "There are definitely still gaps," Deignan said.

The CEO rejected quantifying returns on such investments narrowly, focusing instead on long-term purpose. He said companies often miss the broader value, and women's cycling remains one of Trek's proudest areas.