THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch bank Rabobank is ending its sponsorship of professional cycling, saying “the trust in the cycling world has gone” following publication of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s explosive report on Lance Armstrong.
The bank said Friday that it will halt 17 years of sponsoring men’s and women’s professional teams at the end of 2012.
Bert Bruggink of the board of governors said the decision was taken “with a heavy heart,” but added that the bank was no longer convinced that “the international professional cycling world is capable of creating a clean and honest sport.”
The Rabobank men’s team includes Dutchmen like Robert Gesink and Spaniard Luis-Leon Sanchez. The women’s team is led by world and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos.
