German television channels ARD and ZDF have stoped broadcasting the Tour de france as promised after The T-Mobile Team has suspended team rider Patrik Sinkewitz with immediate effect for violations of the Team Code of Conduct. Sinkewitz returned an adverse analytical finding for testosterone following an out-of-competition test taken by Germany’s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on June 8th.
Well, ARD and ZDF are the first and second state operated TV channels, so the privately owned ones do still show the TDF (eurosport I believe in particular).
I have to say I applaud them for actually staying true to their threat in hope of forcing the sport to change.
I wonder how long it will be before the major sponsors start threating to drop and or boycot pro cycling. Team Discovery is still looking for a new sponsor for 2008. I would not be surprised to see T Mobile start to balk at continuing their relationship with the sport as well.
I am surprised that this hasn’t become an issue on the forum yet…
seems like BIG news in Germany, positive a-sample for a rider in that team… that’s a big deal
it’s too bad really…
They (t-mob) actually are. http://de.eurosport.yahoo.com/18072007/73/t-mobile-denkt-ausstieg.html
Though they decided not to make a knee-jerk reaction and pull the team now, but they will seriously consider dropping sponsorship.
In the meantime, big corporations continue to pay millions to get 30secs of air time during the Super Bowl…
I don’t know if American sports fans are ever going to acknowledge the level of drugs in sports. Most people think the drug policies in the major sports are effective.
Like Phonak?
Hmmm… I can see Fox pulling the Superbowl in the first quarter because say Michael Vick. 
I read this and sounded extreme. Out of curiosity, is this like ABC saying they won’t show something, but it would still be aired on one of the 116 other digital cable or satellite channel? Wonder if a footballer is caught if they won’t show the World Cup?
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I read this and sounded extreme. Out of curiosity, is this like ABC saying they won’t show something, but it would still be aired on one of the 116 other digital cable or satellite channel? Wonder if a footballer is caught if they won’t show the World Cup?
Maybe if its not just one footballer and people start to realize that football is drug ridden like cycling. But it’s not jsut one cyclist, the list just goes on and on. The issue is public perception, the public knows cycling is/has been full of PEDs for ages and now it has finally become uncool to support it. So to save face everyone supporting it has to react more vehemently that the last person, and so each time the reactions will seem more and more extreme.
Yesterday Gary Player released a statement talking about the use of drugs in golf… And so the more aware the public are the more stories will come out.
No one wins the tour on bananas and gatorade.