New Bulletin!!!! Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team Disbands

Tailwind Sports announced the disbanding of The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. Director Sportif of Discovery, Johan Bruyneel, also announced his retirement. Discovery is owned by Tailwind Sports which in turn is co-owned by Lance Armstrong. Discrovery is the only American team on the Pro Cycling Tour. Team CSC is sponsored by the Belgium subsidiary of Computer Science Corporation but that as close as it gets.

Discovery Channel announced in February that it was not going to renew its contract with Tailwind Sports. Since that time Bruyneel has been searching for a sponsor, but to no avail. Bill Stapleton, Tailwind’s General Manger said that they were in talks with several companies and expected a deal shortly, but decided to pull out of negotiations.

What’s going on? Tailwind was asking for $45 million for a three year deal, a stiff price, particularly in the climate of drugs. Any company that takes on a professional cycling team is going to spend many sleepless nights worrying about being sucked into a doping scandal. I expect that they could get a deal, but not at a price that would allow them to compete to win. It’s expensive to run a pro tour team. Time was running out; George Hincapie was rumored to be close to finalizing a contract with T-Mobile. Without a sponsor for next year and the season winding down, the team probably could not hold on to its riders any longer anyway. And that is the simple explanation and the simple reason is usually the correct one.

Of course, there is another possibility. Announcing the disbanding of the team minimizes the effects of a new drug scandal; At the same time of the announcement, Alberto Condador was holding a press conference in Madrid to deny his involvement in drugging or Operación Puerto. He met the same day with the Spanish Minister of Sports. The UCI cleared him of involvement in Operación Puerto months ago – that’s why he was permitted to ride in the Tour. To the best of my knowledge he has not tested positive for blood doping or performance enhancing drugs. But…

The but is caused by Bill Stapleton’s strange statement.

"We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."

I’m not sure I know what to make of that statement. If he had said that they had some willing sponsors, but no one willing to support the high cost of a winning pro cycling team in this environment, that would have been it, at least, as far as I was concerned. But to say that a deal was imminent and they chose to close negotiations sounds suspicious. Sounds like there is much more to this than is public knowledge; stay tuned we still have three weeks before the Vuelta de España, the final grand tour of the season. The press will beat on this drum until they get distracted by the Vuelta.

For the last news link to www.cyclingnews.com.

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