Rabobank to pull out of cycling
Rabobank is to end its sponsorship of its professional cycling teams in the wake of the Lance Armstrong scandal.
Last Updated: 19/10/12 4:07pm
The bank will stop funding its men's and women's teams, the biggest in Holland, at the end of the year, ending 17 years' of sponsorship.
The decision came a day after the Rabobank team confirmed the International Cycling Union had launched a doping case against one of its riders, Carlos Barredo.
That news came in the wake of the United States Anti-Doping Authority report, published last week, which concluded that Lance Armstrong engaged in "serial cheating" and his US Postal Service team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Bert Bruggink, Rabobank board member, said the company had made the decision with a "heavy heart" but added: "We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport.
"We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future.
"Cycling is a beautiful sport, which millions of Dutch people enjoy and a large number of those Dutch people are clients of Rabobank. But our decision stands: we are pulling out of professional cycling. It is painful.
"Not just for Rabobank, but especially for the enthusiasts and the cyclists who are not to blame in this."
The Rabobank men's team includes Dutchmen like Robert Gesink and Spaniard Luis-Leon Sanchez - a former winner of Paris-Nice - and the women's team is led by world and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos.
There are hopes that the team will continue as a 'white label' team under a new foundation which will come under the Dutch Cycling Federation and be run by current Rabobank manager Harold Knebel.
Scottish rider David Millar, a member of the Garmin-Sharp team, vented his anger on Twitter at the decision from the Dutch outfit.
He wrote: "Dear Rabobank, you were part of the problem. How dare you walk away from your young clean guys who are part of the solution. "
The Rabobank team have claimed 23 Tour de France stage wins since their sponsorship began in 1996, most recently by Sanchez in Saint-Flour in 2011.
They looked set for overall victory in 2007 when Michael Rasmussen won nine stages, but the Dane was then withdrawn from the race and sacked by the team after lying about his whereabouts when he missed drug tests.
