Which Tour de France team has the largest budget?

Fortuneo-Vital Concept reportedly has the smallest budget at the Tour de France, but which team has the most money to play with?

French newspaper L'Équipe published a list of each Tour de France team's estimated budget and there's a vast gap between the team at the top and at the bottom.

It's no secret that Team Sky has the largest budget in professional cycling, but Russian outfit Katusha are not far behind them in terms of cash to splash, if these figures are anything to go by.

The newspaper estimates Sky's resources at €35m, three million more than Katusha and seven million more than BMC, funded by Swiss millionaire Andy Rihs.

>>> Which team has won the least prize money at the Tour de France so far?

At the other end of the spectrum, wildcard team Fortuneo-Vital Concept operates on a budget of just €3.5m - a tenth of what Team Sky has to play with - while Lampre-Merida are the WorldTour team with the tightest budget, with €7m a year.

The average for a WorldTour team seems to be around the €12m/€13m mark, with teams like Trek-Segafredo and Orica-BikeExchange.

Tour de France team budgets (estimated)

Team Sky - €35m

Katusha - €32m

BMC - €28m

Tinkoff - €25m

Astana - €20m

Etixx-Quick Step - €18m

Movistar - €15m

Lotto-Soudal - €14m

LottoNL-Jumbo - €14m

Dimension Data - €13.5m

Orica-BikeExchange - €13m

Giant-Alpecin - €12.5m

Trek-Segafredo - €12m

Ag2r La Mondiale - €12m

Cofidis - €11m

IAM Cycling - €10.5m

FDJ - €10m

Cannondale - €10m

Lampre-Merida - €7m

Direct Energie - €6m

Bora-Argon 18 - €4.5m

Fortuneo-Vital Concept - €3.5m

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.