Pro MTB teams lose sponsorship thanks to Armstrong doping

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    • #113738
      Rabobank’s October 19 announcement that it would discontinue sponsorship of its men’s and women’s professional teams was the first major corporate departure from cycling as a result of the Armstrong Affair and its impact spread past the professional road peloton and onto the dirt.

      The Dutch bank has been a major sponsor of cycling for 17 years. In addition to backing men’s and women’s professional road teams, Rabobank sponsored teams in cyclocross, cross-country mountain biking and amateur cycling. Rabobank will continue on with the amateur and cyclocross squads, but has left a financial crater for its newly turned-over team management on the road and cross-country circuits.

      The pro road and mountain bike circuits are as different as Formula 1 and Intercontinental Rally Challenge, but the casual consumer — and non-endemic sponsors — make little distinction between the disciplines, according to Evan Morgenstein, president and CEO of sports management firm PMG Sports. Rabobank’s Adam Craig says that the spillover may foretell rough waters for the dirt side of the sport in the wake of the Armstrong Affair.

      Source: http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/10/ … air_263076

      At first as I was reading this article, I thought it was just speculation… and then at the end it references a statement from a Rabobank employee. IMO, this is ludicrous. Because one guy was an idiot they’re pulling sponsorship from every cycling discipline? When the hell did Armstrong become the official mountain biking figurehead, the litmus stick to tell us who we are and what we’re about? While I’m sad to see the sport losing funding, frankly, if Rabobank has their heads this far up their bungholes, what were they ever doing sponsoring mountain biking in the first place?

    • #113739

      This purely an excuse to end sponsorship instead of pulling sponsorship due to lack of money. Rabobank is a European bank and the situation in Europe is worse than ours (for now). Sponsoring cycling is not as expensive as some of the sponsorships in other sports so it looks like Rabobank could be in financial problems and need an easy out to blame the Lance issue. If they are having problems maybe they should give out toasters to boost deposits. Chances are someone better will come along to help cycling. Fat Billy has spoken! 😄 Later,

    • #113740
      "mtbgreg1" wrote

      Because one guy was an idiot they’re pulling sponsorship from every cycling discipline?

      Well not just one guy, the foundation of the whole case against Armstrong was the rest of the team admitting to doping too.

      Still, it’s a bit lame for them to jump ship like that.

    • #113741
      "fat_billy" wrote

      and the situation in Europe is worse than ours (for now).

      😆

      They already released this statement, when all this Armstrong shit hit the fan a few weeks ago. Rabobank wanted to cut all the ties to the cycling sport, like Team Telekom did after the Ullrich incident. Sponsors like ONCE or Credit Agricole are gone for this reason too…

      And well, it’s more than one rotten apple. It’s the road racing itself. To bad, it has an impact to the other disciplines

    • #113742

      Sounds like it may end up The Red Bull MTB series or Miller Lite MTB series. We could wear weird fake hair on or helmets and become The Donald Trump Hairspray MTB series. Who knows? 😄 Later,

    • #113743

      It’s not just about Armstrong. Like others have said, basically the entire peloton is dirty, and the UCI is corrupt and doesn’t really care about cleaning it up. Rabbobank leaving is a signal to the UCI that if they don’t get their sh!t together, there wont be any more racing.

      It would be interesting to know how dirty the MTB racers are.

    • #113744
      "dgaddis" wrote

      It would be interesting to know how dirty the MTB racers are.

      I can remember, one rider was caught 2 years ago, can’t remember his name. Guess he isn’t the only one…
      Problem is, athlets of all sports are juiced, but the ones who got caught ain’t just smart enought to do it right. Sad….

    • #113745
      "dgaddis" wrote

      It’s not just about Armstrong. Like others have said, basically the entire peloton is dirty, and the UCI is corrupt and doesn’t really care about cleaning it up. Rabbobank leaving is a signal to the UCI that if they don’t get their sh!t together, there wont be any more racing.

      It would be interesting to know how dirty the MTB racers are.

      Yep. There is/was a huge amount of corruption that included the riders, doctors, assistants, managers, owners and everyone on up. Quite sad it got that bad, but it’s not that surprising in hindsight.

      I also wonder how dirty professional MTB racers are. The nice thing is, MTB riders need more than just power and stamina to compete. There’s a larger need for technical skills to compete.

    • #113746

      We’d be naive to think that professional MTBing doesn’t have its share of performance enhancing drug use. Clearly, though, the big money incentive isn’t there like it is in professional road cycling. I think this is probably more of a contributing factor than the differences in skills needed between road and off-road.

    • #113747

      Skills is one thing, endurance on multi-stage races like Cape Epic another.
      I don’t think, MTBing is as dirty as road racing, but some sure push the boundaries….

    • #113748

      I drank a 5hr Energy drink once and rode my bike. Am I in trouble? Just asking. 😄 Later,

    • #113749
      "fat_billy" wrote

      I drank a 5hr Energy drink once and rode my bike. Am I in trouble? Just asking. 😄 Later,

      Only if it last for more than 5 hrs 😉

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