Deutsche Telekom ends sponsorship - Page 6

You can't believe everything you read and that is why I ignore stop signs.
Either way,it is another bad omen.

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Dope,when training and talent just aren't enough.

If I were going to sponsor a cycling team, I would insist on one or more of my guys holding key positions within the team's management. They should have free reign of the whole operation; and the moment they got the feeling that they were being kept out of the loop, I'd lower the boom on the operation.

If you give money to a startup, you don't just hope the management doesn't siphon some of the money into their own pockets. You put financial controls in place to detect and prevent it. You get to appoint key people in the operation. I don't see why sponsoring a cycling team, especially with the reputation cycling has, should be any different.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Unless they were part of the problem...and realize what's required to win...and were involved in the institutionalized medical attention...but now don't want to be associated with it because the public would crucify them now that all the laundry is being aired.

fbircher made a good point long ago. The powers that be, who once kept the lid on the truth, are now vulnerable to increased police/govt. involvement. They can't control the enforcement anymore ala Festina, etc. So they have to fight it, instead of condoning it out of public view. The sponsors also know that the risks have increased. So they either do an Astana to win, and run that risk, or do a Slipstream and ride like dried turds. No upside really.

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I think its delusional to presume that after the 'Festina' scandal, major sponsors didn't make it their business to know exactly what was going on.

It is more likely that they did not want any direct involvement so that they could deny responsability if as with T Mobile currently the **** hits the fan.

The most important sporting lesson is that no-one remembers the guy who comes second. This will always be the case and so will cheating to obtain glory.

If we take a step away from doping for a second and look at other forms of cheating ongoign in top sports such as the 'poisening' of opponents ala Tottenham players in last game of premiership season, costing them Champions League football.

Or ... Tommy Haas potentially being poisened in Russia - Germany Davis Cup Tennis match.

Or ... in UK championship play off final between Cardiff & QPR where a former minder of the Chairman of Cardiff was found to have set the fire alarms off at 2 am on the night of the final !!!!!!

Our team was poisoned!

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Are you forgetting the bad influence of bet on sport events ? Some great scandals like toto calcio in Italy, would come soon maybe tennis?

There is a match fixing/betting enquiry in tennis concerning Davydenko already.

But you're right, betting syndicates betting huge amounts of money have allegedly tried to disrupt various sporting contests.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Giant bikes takes the high road - provisional Pro-Tour license

http://www.cyclingheroes.info/id998.html

The rumour mill says that Stapleton had enough of German media and TM as sponsor. It all started when the sponsor did not want him to sign Valverde last year. This year he signed Hincapie although he very well knew that TM didn't want Hincapie to race in pink....

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Cycling pictures


www.cyclingheroes-pictures.com

So forgive me please for being ignorant here. Stapleton doesn't want TM interference fullstop? Or he doesn't want them telling him he can't hire tainted riders? Or American riders? Or he just wants to be able to dope his team properly without TM looking over his shoulder?

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Stapleton wanted to hire Valverde??? That says a lot about how much he wants a clean team. Hincapie is bad enough, but Valverde? I think we can safely say that Stapleton is full of ****. No wonder T-Mob wanted to get out.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Yeah...I feel like an idiot. I was defending this guy thinking he wanted a clean team. Then he hires hincapie and wants valv. WTF? It's hopeless Bro.

I sent him an email.

So to the T-Mobile team website. Go to contacts or the PR folk. And find the email structure.

As simple as putting Bob Stapleton into Bob.Stapleton@T-Mobile.net or .dom

then feel free to level copius amount of vituperation.

They never returned my email, so I guess I got him. I abused him for taking Hincapie.

I would like to know the story with Hincapie. Why didn't he go to Astana with the other Discos? He's been like the most loyal rider, damaging his own career to stay with a team that only gave him half hearted support for his goals.

Maybe he had a falling out with Bruyneel. Tommy D. had issues with Bruyneel. Now we know Savoldelli did also. Popo wanted to stay with the Tailwind Sports, but he was tossed out of the inner circle also.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

All the teams are facing the same dilemna. They know most of the peleton are doping, so are all equally at risk of taking dope surreptitiously and being caught. So they either take nobodies who can't ride, or somebodies with doping clouds who can.

I think they feel the risks are the same with most riders, at least the old ones have experience at pasing tests. If they do the PR job of picking non-clouded riders who do they pick? Not many who can ride and contest for success.

So again, it comes down to money. Go with the best team you can get, and do your best to mitigate the risks of being caught. DS'ing or managing or sponsoring a crap team is a waste of time.

I feel they are going to lose the German public though. Because DT will want them to fail, and the media will want them to fail most likely. Also the sponsorship potential might be a huge bluff on the premise that if they have any chance of getting them, they have to appear like they are a winning cause with lots of potential sponsors. Like Enron had to appear like a going concern right up to the point they announced bankruptcy.

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I don't think Hincapie wants to be a winner (subconciously), even though he has the physical capability. His mental mistakes over his career are not a product of bad luck. I firmly believe he psyches himself out of the big races. He fits in well as a domestique when he probably has as much or more talent than Armstrong.

I am puzzled why he didn't go to Astana. Do you think he wanted to end his career clean?