These athletes are young men. They might still be living at home. The team takes care of their health insurance.
If they're 22 and married with two kids with their partner not working yes it would be tough. However the average income in Detroit is less than $30,000.
They better do. Professional cycling is a dangerous sport. This year, stage 1 saw a crash of 30-ish riders that broke a rider’s kneecap (he finished the stage, but didn’t start for stage 2), the thigh bone of another (happened so close to the finish line that he would be allowed to start stage 2, but he didn’t), broke a few ribs of and gave a pulmonary contusion to a third rider (he is still in the race, and hopes to contribute to his team’s success in the later stages), gave a fourth one an elbow injury (he hit a spectator taking a photograph. He tried staying in the race for about a week, but eventually retired)
There also already were a few broken collarbones in week 1. Add in a zillion abrasions.
What is your definition of comfortable? Because if 20 year old mostly single people earning the average income isn't it, then I'm not sure your expectation is realistic. Even if you redistribute all income equally, the average isn't going to change.
I do think income inequality is a problem, however.
I dunno, I made less than that when I was young and I was happy and had enough money to drink, go out once a week, etc. Felt pretty comfortable to me.
I lived in Africa a couple years as well, and Americans have such a distorted sense of what poverty is. Travel to other places and gain some perspective.
I don't know if you're American, but if you are, comparing America to the world average is comparing apples to oranges.
Most of the world has been occupied or has had wars fought on its territory in the past 150 years. Most of the world lives in a country that has a neighboring country of similar heft, and usually much bigger, that interferes with local politics much more than the US has ever had foreign intervention. Most of the world lives in a country which isn't basically an entire continent's worth of resources. Most of the world doesn't live in a country where per capita incomes are among the top 10% in the world and the middle + upper classes are 200+ million strong.
If they're 22 and married with two kids with their partner not working yes it would be tough. However the average income in Detroit is less than $30,000.