It's all over for the bicycle racing team sponsored by Phonak.
Owner Andy Rihs is disbanding the team after Phonak earlier decided to pull its sponsorship at the end of the year and iShares decided not to pick up the ball, as earlier agreed.
Rihs, unable to find a sponsor, said the doping scandal surrounding former team member Floyd Landis led to his decision. “For this reason, today I see myself forced to do something I have never done in my whole life as a businessman: I have given up!”
(VeloNews talks about Rihs' commitment to the sport of cycling.)
Landis dedicated his Tour de France victory to Rihs at the closing ceremony. At his Floyd Landis blog, the cyclist writes in an article posted today:
“Andy (Rihs), you have assembled an excellent organization, staff and team. You never wavered in your commitment to the team and your athletes despite the struggles you’ve faced in the past. It makes me happy to have won the Tour with and for Phonak. You deserved to be on the podium with me.
“… Most of all, I understand that this situation impacts families and friends other than my own. It affects the businesses and sponsors that support cycling as well as the sport itself. It is for this reason that I am determined to show that I followed the rules and won fairly and cleanly. There is a greater integrity at stake here than just my own.”
One Phonak cyclist, Koos Moerenhout, told CyclingNews that he had just signed a two-year contract with the team; now he shopping for another team.
Phonak had weathered a blood-doping controversy in 2004 with American cyclist Tyler Hamilton. Other doping allegations over the years helped convince Phonak to retire its sponsorship at the end of 2006. iShares, a US-based division of London-based Barkley Bank, had agreed to take over sponsorship in 2007. It changed its mind after the Landis episode.
CyclingNews said the team tried to clean house after 2004, bringing in team manager John Lalangue, changing doctors, and setting up internal checks.
Recent Comments