THE HAGUE: Rabobank said yesterday it will stop sponsoring professional cycling at the end of this year, in the wake of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report on the use of banned substances in the sport.
“We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport,” the Dutch bank’s chief financial officer, Bert Bruggink, said as he announced the end of its 17-year backing.
“We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future,” a statement quoted him as saying.
Rabobank said the “inevitable” decision came following the USADA report on Lance Armstrong which was published last week and put the seven-time Tour de France winner at the heart of the biggest doping programme in the history of sport.
“For us the USADA report was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That’s enough,” Bruggink told a press conference.
“What the USADA showed us is that international cycle racing is not only sick, but also at the highest level within cycling, including a number of the revelant authorities, including checks on the use of doping,” he said.
The bank said it would still sponsor amateur cycling but would also end its relationship with women’s cycling. Rabobank riders will compete next season but without a sponsor’s name on their shirts, Bruggink said.
Rabobank is one of 18 top-level cycling teams and the decision hits a number of the sport’s major names, including Dutch rider Robert Gesink, who told cyclingnews.com: “It feels like a smack in the face at this moment...
“I don’t have any words for it but it’s one of the worst things that could happen,” he added. REUTERS
