Deutsche Telekom elected to end its sponsorship of of both the men's and women's teams with immediate effect. It negotiated with Neuer Straßen Sport, the operator of the T-Mobile Team, for the termination of the contract that was set to run until December 31, 2010. Deutsche Telekom had been a sponsor of professional cycling since 1991.
"We arrived at this decision to separate our brand from further exposure from doping in sport and cycling specifically. This was a difficult decision given our long history of support for professional cycling and the efforts of Bob Stapleton in managing the team in 2007", said Deutsche Telekom Board member and CEO of T-Mobile International Hamid Akhavan. “We have an obligation to our employees, customers and shareholders to focus our attention and resources on our core businesses”, added Akhavan.
"We have worked very hard with the current team management to promote a clean cycling sport but we reached the decision to continue our efforts to rid all sports of doping by applying our resources in other directions. Deutsche Telekom AG wants to make it clear that this action is not based on any disagreement with or misconduct by team management”, Akhavan emphasised.
Giant, T-Mobile’s bike sponsor since 2004, reluctantly followed Deutsche Telekom’s lead, indicating it will continue to support professional-level cycling.
Giant “is disappointed with this (Deutsche Telekom’s) announcement as it highlights the ongoing challenges that are currently facing professional road cycling. As a result, Giant has ended its sponsorship of the team, and is currently evaluating future partnership opportunities,” said Tony Lo, Giant CEO.
