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10-01-03, 06:18 AM
http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=reu-spain&prov=reuters&type=lgns
For those of you too lazy to click::p
Riders face uphill battle against economic recession
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Roberto Heras won the Tour of Spain thanks to his devastating climbing skills, but other riders face an uphill battle as they try to cope with the harsh economic realities that now overshadow the sport.
The Spaniard, who enjoys a lucrative contract with Lance Armstrong's US Postal team, is in the fortunate position of being able to look forward to a well earned rest at the end of a long, hard season, but many of his colleagues will have to endure a much bleaker winter.
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Two of the biggest names in cycling sponsorship - ONCE and Banesto - have announced their withdrawal from the sport and, unless new sponsors can be found, a host of riders face the very real prospect of joining the ranks of the unemployed when the season comes to an end.
"I'm more worried about finding a new sponsor than winning the Vuelta," eventual runner-up Isidro Nozal of the ONCE team told reporters while he was still leading the race before its finale on Sunday.
ONCE, the Spanish organisation for the blind, has decided to focus its sponsorship programme on paralympic sport, while the bank Banesto has concluded that pouring money into a cycling team no longer produces the desired payback in terms of publicity.
The departure of two such influential players is just the latest in a series of body blows to the sport in a country that has traditionally been a hotbed of cycling.
BUDGET CUTS
Telecommunications giants Telefonica pulled out as the leading sponsor of the Tour of Spain after last year's race and the organisation has had to reduce its budget drastically as a consequence.
The problem is not just confined to Spain either, as the demise of Jan Ullrich's German-based Team Coast showed earlier this year.
The drugs scandals of the past and the increasingly limited media coverage have undermined the interest of potential sponsors in the sport.
In recent years, attention has been focused almost exclusively on the Tour de France, especially since Armstrong and other leading riders have decided to give the other historic tours a miss for fear of lessening their chances of winning the main event.
Armstrong's domination of the Tour has also had a negative effect too given that, Ullrich aside, no other rider in the peloton appears to have a realistic chance of stopping the big Texan from claiming a record sixth victory in a row.
Following his spectacular victory in the Vuelta in 2000, Heras looked to be a likely candidate to succeed Armstrong in the Tour, but the American then bought him up to join his own team.
On a positive note, there is little doubt that the sport has a somewhat cleaner image than in the past following the crack down on drugs in the major races on the calendar.
This year's Tour de France was undoubtedly the most exciting in recent memory, while Heras's exhibition of his explosive climbing skills in the final week of the Vuelta made for breath-taking viewing.
The next few weeks are likely to prove crucial as the team directors at ONCE and Ibanesto attempt to persuade potential sponsors that there is still some life left in the sport.
Meanwhile, many of the riders in the peloton face an anxious wait to see if they will be taking to the roads next season.
As if cycling didn't need more exposure in America, now it seems to be losing momentum in Europe. I'm sure the sport will recover along with the economy. It's just disheartening to see once dominant teams struggling to pay the bills and outright dissolving.
For those of you too lazy to click::p
Riders face uphill battle against economic recession
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Roberto Heras won the Tour of Spain thanks to his devastating climbing skills, but other riders face an uphill battle as they try to cope with the harsh economic realities that now overshadow the sport.
The Spaniard, who enjoys a lucrative contract with Lance Armstrong's US Postal team, is in the fortunate position of being able to look forward to a well earned rest at the end of a long, hard season, but many of his colleagues will have to endure a much bleaker winter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two of the biggest names in cycling sponsorship - ONCE and Banesto - have announced their withdrawal from the sport and, unless new sponsors can be found, a host of riders face the very real prospect of joining the ranks of the unemployed when the season comes to an end.
"I'm more worried about finding a new sponsor than winning the Vuelta," eventual runner-up Isidro Nozal of the ONCE team told reporters while he was still leading the race before its finale on Sunday.
ONCE, the Spanish organisation for the blind, has decided to focus its sponsorship programme on paralympic sport, while the bank Banesto has concluded that pouring money into a cycling team no longer produces the desired payback in terms of publicity.
The departure of two such influential players is just the latest in a series of body blows to the sport in a country that has traditionally been a hotbed of cycling.
BUDGET CUTS
Telecommunications giants Telefonica pulled out as the leading sponsor of the Tour of Spain after last year's race and the organisation has had to reduce its budget drastically as a consequence.
The problem is not just confined to Spain either, as the demise of Jan Ullrich's German-based Team Coast showed earlier this year.
The drugs scandals of the past and the increasingly limited media coverage have undermined the interest of potential sponsors in the sport.
In recent years, attention has been focused almost exclusively on the Tour de France, especially since Armstrong and other leading riders have decided to give the other historic tours a miss for fear of lessening their chances of winning the main event.
Armstrong's domination of the Tour has also had a negative effect too given that, Ullrich aside, no other rider in the peloton appears to have a realistic chance of stopping the big Texan from claiming a record sixth victory in a row.
Following his spectacular victory in the Vuelta in 2000, Heras looked to be a likely candidate to succeed Armstrong in the Tour, but the American then bought him up to join his own team.
On a positive note, there is little doubt that the sport has a somewhat cleaner image than in the past following the crack down on drugs in the major races on the calendar.
This year's Tour de France was undoubtedly the most exciting in recent memory, while Heras's exhibition of his explosive climbing skills in the final week of the Vuelta made for breath-taking viewing.
The next few weeks are likely to prove crucial as the team directors at ONCE and Ibanesto attempt to persuade potential sponsors that there is still some life left in the sport.
Meanwhile, many of the riders in the peloton face an anxious wait to see if they will be taking to the roads next season.
As if cycling didn't need more exposure in America, now it seems to be losing momentum in Europe. I'm sure the sport will recover along with the economy. It's just disheartening to see once dominant teams struggling to pay the bills and outright dissolving.