Heres the thing though; Marco Pantani, Merchatone Uno. You know, the italian chain of super markets. Every italian knew Pantani, and the association with Merchatone Uno certainly helped them locally-but who sponsor an international team and expose your brand to the rest of the world, when you see 0 returns on it? They aren't a global company.
Radioshack. I'm aussie, and I've never seen one. If I weren't a fan of cycling, I wouldn't know about them. Why did they sponsor an international pro team? They aren't gettign the returns on it like say, for example, microsoft or apple would. Radioshacks product is not available to a hell of a lot of countries apart from America. Maybe I could buy their stuff online, but hey, we have a different chain here, close by, and I'm sure most countries that can watch cycling on tv do as well.
Radioshack's sponsorship helps them locally but surely thats not all they have to gain. I just don't see what their gaining apart from local exposure.