Perhaps not surprising given his racing quality and star power, Bora-Hansgrohe leader Peter Sagan is considered the highest earner in professional cycling this season.

The Slovakian-born Sagan reportedly has 5 million euros (4.47 million euros) per season, but Cyclingnews has learned that the actual figure is still higher, at 5.5 million euros (£4.92 million).

The figure comes from a list published by the French newspaper L'Equipe of the 20 highest earning riders in the world.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is second with 4.5 million euros, Team Ineos teammate Geraint Thomas is third with 3.5 million euros, and Egan Bernal is fifth with 2.7 million euros. Egan Bernal was fifth with 2.7 million euros (about 2.41 billion yen). Michał Kwiatkowski is seventh and Giro d'Italia champion Richard Kalapas is tenth, both with over 2 million euros (about $1.79 billion).

According to L'Equipe, the British team's budget for 2020 is a massive 45 million euros (£40.2 million), an increase of nearly 20 million euros from the 2015 season and almost triple the budget of 2010, the team's first season.

Julian Alaphilippe is, as expected, the highest earning player on the sport's other superteam, Detunink Quickstep. The French rider, who last year won Milan-San Remo, La Flesche Wallone, Strade Bianche, and two stages of the Tour de France and enjoyed two weeks of yellow, is just below Kwiatkowski, with a reported €2.3 million (£1.9 million)

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The ranking is dominated by Grand Tour stars, with 12 riders filling the ranking, with Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez in 20th place at €1.5 million (£1.34 million). [Fernando Gaviria is at 1.8 million euros (£1.61 million) and Elia Viviani is at 1.5 million euros with his new team, Cofidis.

Slovenian wonder kid Tadej Pogachar is the youngest among the top cyclists.

The 21-year-old is not on L'Equipe's list, but according to Cyclingnews, he already has 2 million a season after having a brilliant neo-pro season with UAE Team Emirates last year and agreeing to a new contract with UAE Team Emirates until 2024. He is said to have €2 million in his pocket. Last year, Pogachar won three stages of the Tour of California and the Vuelta a España, finishing third overall in his Grand Tour debut.

Read the full list, corrected with information obtained by Cycling News.

1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) €5.5 million

2. Chris Froome (Team Ineos) €4.5 million

3. Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) €3.5 million

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Trek Segafredo) €3 million

5. Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) €2.7 million

6. Fabio Al (UAE Team Emirates) €2.6 million

7. Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos) €2.5 million

8. Julian Alaphilippe (Detunink Quickstep) €2.3 million

9. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) €2.2 million

10. Richard Calapaz (Team Ineos) €2.1 million

11. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) 2 million euros

12. Primos Roglic (Team Jumbo - Visma) 2 million euros

13. Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) 2 million euros

14. Nairo Quintana (Alcare Samsic) €1.9 million

15. Tom Dumoulin (Team Jumbo-Visma) €1.8 million

16. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) €1.8 million

17. romain balde (Groupama-FDJ) €1.7 million

18. greg van Avermaat (CCC Team) €1.6 million

19. elia Viviani (Cofidis) €1.5 million

20. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana ProTeam) €1.5 million