Just got a newsletter with the following…
Following the doping confession of director Bjarne Riis, Team CSC lost one of
its sponsors. MAN, a German manufacturer of trucks, buses and diesel engines, said it has been
sponsoring professional cycling “under the impression that this was an effective marketing tool, but
in the light of recent developments, the company has decided no longer to pursue its sponsorship
of this sport.” MAN said it was ready to leave after last year’s doping scandals but was persuaded
to stay after CSC, led by Riis, instituted one of cycling’s most stringent anti-doping programs. Now,
following Riis’s admission that he was on drugs while winning the 1996 Tour de France, MAN said it
“no longer considers it appropriate to employ professional cycling as a platform for corporate branding.”
Overheard: “When a prominent rider and coach like Bjarne Riis offers to turn back his yellow 1996
championship jersey because he cheated, cycling has officially become as bogus as pro wrestling.”
– George Vescey, New York Times