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T-Mobile to stay in cycling
'To leave cycling at a time this sport is in crisis would send the wrong message'
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Geman telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom will remain as the title sponsor of the T-Mobile cycling team until 2010, spokesman Christian Frommert said Thursday.
“We remain committed to cycling until 2010,” declared Frommert at a press conference in Saarbrücken ahead of Friday’s start of the Tour of Germany.
“Since the end of the Tour de France, we had a series of in-house discussions and met with the team, the German cycling federation and television networks,” Frommert explained. “After a lot of consideration, we concluded that to leave cycling at a time this sport is in crisis would send the wrong message. We are in an uncompromising fight against doping.”
"We want to prove a point through consistency and stability which this sport is in great need of," said T-Mobile's board chairman Hamid Akhavan. "We want to continue our involvement in cycling and support it in its effort to become a cleaner sport."
"We reserve the right to immediately terminate the commitment in the event of further doping cases," Akhavan added.
The team’s survival came into question when Patrik Sinkewitz learned of a positive test result for testosterone. Following a year of doping revelations involving the T-Mobile team and its predecessor Telekom, the program had undergone a significant management shakeup.
American telecommunications entrepreneur Bob Stapleton was tapped to fix T-Mobile following last year's Tour de France debacle, which saw team star Jan Ullrich, Spanish climber Oscar Sevilla and sport director Rudy Pevenage linked to controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and the Operación Puerto doping scandal. An internal house-cleaning included the departure of several riders and staff coupled with the arrival of 13 new riders.
Upon news of the Sinkewitz positive, however, German television networks abruptly canceled broadcasts of the Tour, saying that the race and the sport lacked credibility.
Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann had said earlier in the day that the company reached what he deemed “a reasonable solution” for the team’s continued operation. Satisfied with doping controls established for the 2007 world road championships, slated for Stuttgart in late September, Germany's ZDF network took a tentative step back into cycling and announced plans on Thursday to broadcast the event.
The Deutsche Telekom corporation has had a presence in cycling since 1991, when it began sponsorship of the team that bore its name. The team twice won the Tour de France (Bjarne Riis in 1996 and Jan Ullrich in 1997), but both victories have been mired in controversy since Riis confessed to having doped on his way to victory and Ullrich has been pushed out of the sport after being named as a suspect in the Puerto scandal.
The team’s annual budget of 12 million euros is one of the largest among ProTour teams. Thursday's announcement eases the concerns of riders signed to contracts with the team and several poised to join the program next season. Topping that latter list is U.S. national road champion George Hincapie, who expects to leave the U.S.-based Discovery Channel team at the end of the 2007 season.
The Hincapie deal - although not yet official - is part of the once-heavily-German team's effort to bolster its profile in the United States and Canada by bringing on big-name domestic talent for next season. Canadian rider Michael Barry and American Aaron Olson were signed this season as part of Stapleton's rebuilding effort.
Barry said he was pleased at the announcement since it represents the sponsor's support of the teams effort at reform.
"It is great news," Barry told VeloNews. "The sport is in a bad state and we need teams and sponsors like T-Mobile."
T-Mobile at a GlanceGeneral Manager: Bob Stapleton (USA)
Directeur: Rolf Aldag (G)
Directeurs sportifs: Valerio Piva (I), Brian Holm (Dk), TristanHoffman (Nl), Allan Peiper (Aus), Jan Schaffrath (G)
Budget: 12 million Euros (2006-estimated)
2007 RosterMichael Barry (Can)Eric Baumann (G)Lorenzo Bernucci (I)Marcus Burghardt (G)Mark Cavendish (GB)Gerald Ciolek (G)Scott Davis (Aus)Bernhard Eisel (A)Linus Gerdemann (G)Bert Grabsch (G)AndrZ Greipel (G)Giuseppe Guerini (I)Roger Hammond (GB)Adam Hasen (Aus)Greg Henderson (NZ)Kim Kirchen (Lux)Andreas Klier (G)Servais Knaven (Nl)Andre Korff (G)Axel Merckx (B)Aaron Olsen (USA)Jacob Piil (Dk)Marco Pinotti (I)Frantisek Rabon (Cz)Michael Rogers (Aus)Stephan Schreck (G)Thomas Ziegler (G)
Major Victories:
Tour de France: 1996* and 1997; 30 stage wins
Vuelta a España:1999
Tour de Suisse 2003, 2004
Milan San Remo 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
Amstel Gold Race 2000, 2003
Paris-Nice 2002
Tour of Flanders 2004
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2005
Ghent-Wevelgem 2007
*Tour de France officials say the 1996 win of Bjarne Riis has been negated because of recent doping revelations.
