Amsterdam: Dutch bank Rabobank ended its multi-million euro backing of professional cycling on Friday, the latest sponsor scared away by a doping scandal that has engulfed seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
The bank is the biggest backer of the high profile Dutch Rabobank team, with total sponsorship worth 15 million euros a year in a cycling-mad nation with as many bikes as people.
The decision shows the damage being done to cycling after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Armstrong had taken part in and organised a sophisticated doping scheme on his way to success.
"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," Bert Bruggink, a Rabobank board member, said in a statement....
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10:25 PM, Oct 19, 2012
