Reigning world champion and multiple Tour de France winner Tadeji Pogagnard is "very low・paid" given the amount of star power he brings to the sport, former US rider Tejay van Garderen has suggested. And that's even if Poganyar is already likely to be the best paid bike rider on the planet.

Following his best season so far, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Pogañar had received both an extension of his current contract with UAE team Emirates and a pay rise. His contract is expected to end in 2030, during which he will reportedly earn 6 million euros in 5,000 years and have a buyout clause of 2 billion euros.

Remco Evenepoel will earn nearly 500 million euros in the season under a new contract with Soudal-QuickStep, Jonas Vingegaard said. Win similar numbers as the leader of Visma-Lease A Bike. 

Speaking on NBC's podcast "Beyond the Podium," Van Garderen, who twice ranked fifth overall in the Tour de France and now works for EF Education-EasyPost as a directeur sportif, argued that Pogañar's recently inflated pay packet is still not enough compared to other sports, especially stars in the US.

"I definitely like to see rocks pushing up hills for cycling, that's when the guys are getting the respect they deserve.Van Garderen said, after co-host Brent Bookwalter had argued that Poganyar's latest deal ushered in a new era of boosting financial transactions.

"But I still say, for all the star power he brings to the sport, Tadej Pogacar is very low-paid.

"Just in comparison if you look at the NBA [the top US Basketball league], 8.3 million euros will get you a solid "3 and D" player" - one warms up his description, adding that "maybe someone will come out of the bench", Van Garderen said, "maybe a little craftsman." And here will be traded to other teams. [But] The best paid player, Steven-Curry gets 45 million per year.

Van Garderen admitted that the comparison between cycling and major U.S. sports is difficult. But he nevertheless came back when he was riding between 2008 and 2021 and claimed that over time, proportionately, the increase was not as big as he thought.

When Van Garden came to the new deal for Poganyar, claiming that former multiple tour winners like Chris Froome and or three times world champion Peter Sagan were paid about €4 to €5 million a year, "It's a big step up."

But, he added, "But if you think about it, it's all the way back in 2012 or 2013, and it's the back of the highest pay at the time." -  He was at €25 million and now it's €45 million for the best paid man.

"I can't say there's no audience, so I don't know what cycling needs to do to keep up. On May 7 [for the Tour de France] the deck is clear, the NBA will not go anymore, they will end on May 6, the football has not yet begun. Cycling is a global thing that everyone sees.

Van Garderen admitted that he did not know how higher wages would be funded. But he suggested that instead of starting the money, Poganyar might be able to ask for a small percentage of the TV coverage of the race.

"The team may be able to take advantage of it, saying that if you want Tadej there, you're going to pay us this. And that may be a way to pull out some of the revenue that the team doesn't see, and that's how you get us closer to some of those ball sports."

Further on the same podcast, Van Garderen explains that a substantial wage increase is motivating for a purely financially driven rider. He admitted that he could lose his job, suffer additional pressure and cancel the race. 

However, he stressed that no matter how much or little Poganyar was paid, he would be "cut out of another cloth" and ride hard regardless of wages. "He's driving," van Garderen added. Regardless of Pogacar's financial situation, Van Garderen's proposal on rider pay could clash with UCI implementing some form of budget cap in the coming years. 4 May, after a meeting of the Professional Cycling Council, UCI announced that the "principle" of establishing cap spending limits for teams has been approved. 

Last year, after the top teams on the world tour won 73% of the race in the season's opening month, Groupama-FDJ team manager Marc Madiot strongly supported such a cap, arguing that "without a cap on the budget, it will remain in a situation where a huge team can control everything.""

Madiot also pointed to one of the specific financial challenges of the French team, given that the wages of riders and staff are much higher in that country due to strict financial regulations on companies when compared to abroad.

Van Garderen himself admitted that he was thinking differently on other occasions this year and said he was not in favor of the "salary cap idea," but this time "all you're trying to do is artificially deflate the value of riders." Cycling has to pay riders what they deserve."