Dutch bank pulls out of cycling sponsorship
Dutch bank Rabobank is ending its sponsorship of professional cycling following publication of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s explosive report into Lance Armstrong.
Dutch bank Rabobank is ending its long sponsorship of professional cycling, saying “the trust in the cycling world has gone” following publication of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s explosive report into Lance Armstrong.
The bank said early on Friday it will halt sponsorship of its men’s and women’s professional teams at the end of this year after 17 years.
Bert Bruggink of the board of governors said the decision was taken “with a heavy heart” but added that the bank was no longer convinced that “the international professional cycling world is capable of creating a clean and honest sport.”
The announcement signaled the end of the biggest professional cycling team in the bike-crazy Netherlands.
It also came a day after the Rabobank team confirmed the International Cycling Union had launched a doping case against one of its riders, Carlos Barredo.
The Rabobank men’s team includes Dutchmen like Robert Gesink and Spaniard Luis-Leon Sanchez. The women’s team is led by world and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos.