Carl Sundquist wrote:
. . . (ISTR there was a
_published_ cap on what an amateur rider could win/earn, (i.e. receive)
on a daily basis. I think the amount was $10k per day. Somebody with an
old USCF rulebook please check it out and report back.)

I was editor of the USCF Rulebooks from 1978 to 1985 but recall no such
published caps in that era. However I did find an authorization for such
caps that was adopted in 1982 by FIAC (the amateur cycling arm of UCI,
not to be confused with the modern FIAC). Their Article 9 said:

Art. 9 To be admitted to take part in the Olympic Games an athlete must:
-Hold a license issued by a national federation affiliated to FIAC,
-Be 17 years old or reach his 17th years during the solar year of the
Olympic Games,
-Observe and respect the FIAC rules and Rule 26 of the I.O.C. as well as
its bye-law and guidelines, in conformity with the text of the rule
enclosed within the FIAC Technical Guidelines,
-Not have received prizes in cash or kind of value exceeding the amount
hereunder specified: the maximum value of prizes in cash or kind of
value for road races, for each stage of a stage race or a track race
will be established each year by each national federation. The amount
established by the national federation should be acknowledged by FIAC,
which will notify all affiliated federations.
[etc.]

No such cap was adopted by USCF at that time but in the late 1980s (I
would have to dig some to pinpoint the year) USCF adopted Rule 1E5a
saying that "The maximum that can be accepted by a rider is $2,500 per
day of racing." However that rule was removed in 1992, which was when
the old FIAC disappeared. Thereafter you were an "amateur" or a
"professional" based on which kind of license you purchased but you
could earn a lot of money in either case if you were good enough.

This was during the long era of "shamteurism" in which various athletic
organizations officially continued to endorse amateurism while winking
at enforcement. After World War 2 the Eastern Bloc countries set up
programs to win Olympic medals in which top athletes were put on salary
while pretending to be amateurs.

Western countries pretended to continue following the amateurism rules
but with increasing hypocrisy. For example, when I started racing and
officiating in the early 1970s only equipment prizes were allowed--no
cash. However over time promoters began to quietly hand envelops
containing cash to winners and eventually this practice was officially
condoned.

Unfortunately while the Internal Revenue Service follows the sensible
rule that a cycling pro is one who makes his or her living from cycling
and can therefore deduct their expenses for this work, another U.S.
Federal Law, the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, still
pretends that there is another distinction between amateurs and pros.
That law gives the U.S. Olympic Committee and its members, including USA
Cycling, monopolies on access to international amateur competition but
fails to define what that is.

Even worse, though these sports monopolies are required to be charitable
nonprofit corporations there is no requirement that they provide
democratic representation of their members. In practice, commercial
interests have spent what it takes to gain control of these
organizations that oversee their businesses, as has happened to USA
Cycling. So far the truly amateur riders don't seem to give a damn and
the truly pros are evidently afraid to rock the boat and jeopardize
their job, so this situation will likely continue for awhile.

However given that Ted Stevens' influence is waning, there is a chance
that the U.S. Congress will eventually wake up and fix this mess.
Unfortunately there are some bigger messes that they need to address first.

-Les Earnest