How much does a professional downhill racer actually make? For years the answer has mostly been a secret.
Contracts in mountain biking rarely become public and riders almost never talk about their salaries. But in a recent video, New Zealand racer Wyn Masters decided to change that, pulling back the curtain on his career earnings from his first World Cup season in 2008 through his later years with GT Bicycles.
“I’ve had this idea for a long time to finally say what I actually made as a World Cup downhill and enduro racer,” Masters said in the video.
The numbers tell a story familiar to many riders: years of scraping by before finally landing a proper professional contract.
The early years: racing broke
Masters began racing World Cups in 2008 as an elite rider.
He flew to Europe alone with a budget of $11,000 NZD. He bought a used Iron Horse Sunday for $4,000 NZD. Travel alone cost roughly $3,000 NZD.
The result: a season that cost about $15,000 NZD.
He earned nothing.
“I flew to Europe and I didn’t know anyone,” Masters said. “I didn’t have a van. I didn’t have anything.”
A small Italian brand, Ancilotti Cycles, offered support the following season. It covered race logistics but paid no salary. The only money he earned that year came from prize money including €1,200 from an urban race in Bergamo that helped pay for travel to later World Cups.
“It felt like a million dollars at the time,” he said.
Bikes instead of pay
For the next several seasons, Masters continued racing largely without salary.
In 2010, riding for Kenda-Playbiker, he still wasn’t paid but received a downhill bike and a four-cross bike he could sell at the end of the season.
In 2011, he finally signed a proper contract with MS Racing worth €12,000, though part of that included expenses. A brutal preseason crash shattered his arm and cut the season short. He ultimately received about €1,000 plus a bike he later sold.
Even by 2012, after another injury-ruined season, the sport still hadn’t paid him a salary.
“I still hadn’t made money from racing,” Masters said.
To survive financially he worked off-season trail-building jobs in Portugal, Chile and New Zealand. Those contracts eventually helped him save enough for a house deposit.
The first real paycheck
Masters’ first true professional salary arrived in 2013 when he joined a team backed by Bulls Bikes.
His contract: €15,000 per year, with travel and equipment covered.
At the time, it felt…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…