Warning shot to UCI as Rabobank exits
Source: AFP |
October 20, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The Lance Armstrong affair yesterday prompted a major sponsor to cut ties with cycling, in a warning shot to its embattled governing body, raising questions about whether the sport can ever restore its tainted image.
Rabobank, which has sponsored a professional cycling team for the last 17 years, claimed the sport had been irrevocably damaged by a succession of doping cases, not just the high-profile scandal involving seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong.
The US Anti-Doping Agency last week placed the Texan at the heart of what it said was the biggest doping program in sports history, which has heaped pressure on cycling's governing body and seen Armstrong lose a string of high-profile backers.
"We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport," Rabobank board member Bert Bruggink said in a statement.
"We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future."
Rabobank has been the standard-bearer for Dutch cycling and enjoyed success but it has also been mired in doping scandals, including one involving Danish rider Michael Rasmussen when he was wearing the leader's yellow jersey on the 2007 Tour de France.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) for its part said it "understood the context" of Rabobank's decision but the withdrawal is a clear warning that the sport could see further financial backing fall away unless it takes strong action to stamp out the doping scourge.
The fallout from the Armstrong affair has been felt around the world, with Cycling Australia announcing that its vice-president, Stephen Hodge, had resigned after admitting taking performance-enhancing drugs as a professional. US rider Levi Leipheimer, who gave evidence against his former teammate Armstrong, was also ditched by his current team, Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
Meanwhile, a report in Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper yesterday claimed that a host of top riders and even whole teams were linked to the sports doctor who oversaw Armstrong's doping program, stoking fears of fresh controversy.
Rabobank, which has sponsored a professional cycling team for the last 17 years, claimed the sport had been irrevocably damaged by a succession of doping cases, not just the high-profile scandal involving seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong.
The US Anti-Doping Agency last week placed the Texan at the heart of what it said was the biggest doping program in sports history, which has heaped pressure on cycling's governing body and seen Armstrong lose a string of high-profile backers.
"We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport," Rabobank board member Bert Bruggink said in a statement.
"We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future."
Rabobank has been the standard-bearer for Dutch cycling and enjoyed success but it has also been mired in doping scandals, including one involving Danish rider Michael Rasmussen when he was wearing the leader's yellow jersey on the 2007 Tour de France.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) for its part said it "understood the context" of Rabobank's decision but the withdrawal is a clear warning that the sport could see further financial backing fall away unless it takes strong action to stamp out the doping scourge.
The fallout from the Armstrong affair has been felt around the world, with Cycling Australia announcing that its vice-president, Stephen Hodge, had resigned after admitting taking performance-enhancing drugs as a professional. US rider Levi Leipheimer, who gave evidence against his former teammate Armstrong, was also ditched by his current team, Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
Meanwhile, a report in Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper yesterday claimed that a host of top riders and even whole teams were linked to the sports doctor who oversaw Armstrong's doping program, stoking fears of fresh controversy.
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