Deutschland Tour cancelled

[bcheung]

http://www.velonews.com/article/84351/g ... ping-furor

The avalanche of positive drug tests has buried the 2009 Tour of Germany.

The organizers and the German cycling federation (BDR) announced Thursday that they were canceling the nine-day event due to the recent spate of doping positives.

“We regret this decision, but it had to be taken," said race organizer Kai Rapp.

Linus Gerdemann (Columbia) won the 2008 edition. The 2009 race had been scheduled for August 29-September 6.

On Tuesday, organizers of the Tour of Stuttgart canceled their six-day event, saying recent failed doping tests have tarnished the sport's image in Germany.

"We have held intense discussions over the last few days and decided at the conclusion not to organize the 26th edition of the competition given the current situation in cycling," organizer Andreas Kroll told the German agency SID.

"Professional cycling has an enormous image problem at the moment which we can't currently change.”

The race had been scheduled for January 15-20 in the south German city. Agence France Presse contributed to this report.

[Irish]

So people work on The Tour of Germany/Stutgart 6 days will now face unemployment, well Mr Ulrich....up to and including Mr Kohl,your greed/cheating/doping has cost innocent people their jobs

[DocRay]

What nonsense. This has more to do with the current economic disaster than this pseudo-moralistic crap.

They couldn't raise the sponsorship. that's all.

[bcheung]

They couldn't raise the sponsorship. that's all.

Are you just going to throw this out there, or do you have something to back it?

[GrahamB]

What nonsense. This has more to do with the current economic disaster than this pseudo-moralistic crap.

They couldn't raise the sponsorship. that's all.

Well yes, but... sponsorship is about either raising product awareness, or associating the product/client with something the spectators love. It may
be unhealthy, but in sport that often goes with fan-like hero worship of teams or individuals.

With most of the inspiring German riders disgraced, it's no wonder they couldn't raise the sponsorship.

[los318]

i dont much care what the problem its..its crap..

[Steponas]

So people work on The Tour of Germany/Stutgart 6 days will now face unemployment, well Mr Ulrich....up to and including Mr Kohl,your greed/cheating/doping has cost innocent people their jobs

Ullrich wasn`t the first German rider to dope and evil didn`t enter the world in the last 10 years , as for the 6 Days , they were a vitamine -lover`s paradise up until quite recently.

[Steponas]

I think it`s good news that the Germans are abandoning pro road sport , and also very good news that the German TV channels are reducing coverage of cyclesport generally , including the Toer.
Now the German media ( including such paragons of virtue as BZ and the Springer Verlag ) can continue their crusade of lecturing the rest of the world on morals and ethics , and cleansing the world of evil.

[KB]

The German press are wonderful. Kick cycling but host the Golden League meetings with athletes up to their gills in drugs.

Even track sprinters taking EPO, but blame it on cycling.

Good riddance.

[BenCousins]

KB, surely it's perfectly OK to hide doping in other sports, because finding cheaters positive just 'shows the sport in a bad light'?

[KB]

EURO, assume that your comments was tongue in cheek!

I’m glad the busts are happening because it means that something’s at last working, but the UCI can’t claim any of the credit. It was left to ASO.
I'm not defending doping in cycling, it's a cancer; and two wrongs don't make a right. However, I believe there are massive amounts of hypocrisy and hype when I see that athletics and other sports appear to have as serious a problem. Then there’s football, with that egomaniac worm Sepp Blatter thinking his sport is squeaky clean: would love to know ‘all’ the names on the Puerto list to wipe that permanent smug smile from his face with rigorous testing as they do in cycling.

My beef is not that cycling’s better than any other sport, but what irks me is lack of proportionality in the reporting of it, which leads to the general public thinking everyone who races a bike to be a drug cheat. So, cycling ramps up the testing, loses sponsors while other sports piss themselves with laughing at these idiots reporting their own bad news. Professional sport’s nasty stuff.

The ToG is cancelled with doping used as an excuse. But that argument’s lacking in logic when the sport appears to be at last making a concerted effort after the nonsense of slimy politicians like Verbruggen. People should be applauding the efforts being made instead of the brickbats. It appears to be so bad in Germany that Kloden has refused to ride for the national team ever again because of the witch hunt against the sport. But then cycling in Germany only became popular when Ulrich won the Tour so it's no surprise that the media has it's head up its arse. So, support it while it’s rotten to the core and then destroy when it gets cleaner. Wonderful!

From a personal perspective I still watch the racing, but I’m not fooled that it’s anywhere clean. And I’ve enjoyed it all the more this last couple of years without Lance, Basso, Landis, Hamilton, Ulrich et al. I don’t miss them one little bit and just wish they would all go and disappear because all they bring to the party is yesterday’s bad news when we already have enough. I wouldn’t stop at 4 year bans either; it’s time for lifetime bans. They can go and get a job in the real world or in entertainment as actors because they know how to lie through their back teeth and put on an act.

[JK]

I really do not get the idea of media being part of this whole circus, instead of just standing next to and observing it. ARD/ZDF, who are you to stop broadcasting the tour, when there is still a very big audience? What is in it for them, can anybody explain? Is this a case of a few politically minded broadcasting channel managers trying to enforce morals on the public? That sure has not worked on some German cyclists... The side effect is that German sponsors are running away, teams stop, race organisations quit.. Good job killing the sport in Germany!

Is there a German on the forum that can explain? I really don't get it...

[Steponas]

I really do not get the idea of media being part of this whole circus, instead of just standing next to and observing it. ARD/ZDF, who are you to stop broadcasting the tour, when there is still a very big audience? What is in it for them, can anybody explain? Is this a case of a few politically minded broadcasting channel managers trying to enforce morals on the public? That sure has not worked on some German cyclists... The side effect is that German sponsors are running away, teams stop, race organisations quit.. Good job killing the sport in Germany!

Is there a German on the forum that can explain? I really don't get it...

That`s exactly what it is , a few self-appointed arbiters of morals ( moraalridders ) in the German media and politics , constantly drip-feeding the German public a one-sided diet of doping in pro road sport.
Look at the disgrace of last year`s world championships in Germany , pure political posturing and profiling , no invite to Eddy Merckx being the lowpoint of this farce.
The German supporters of the sport deserve better.

[CharlesM]

Hey the biggest race on the planet was created by the media...

Cycling sport developed on sensationalism...


That doesn't make it's status right, but if there is a financial reason for teams to back out, there may well be a financial reason for media coverage to fall off as well. Not saying that's the main cause, nor the chief motivation here but it's part of it.

[Steponas]

Hey the biggest race on the planet was created by the media...

Cycling sport developed on sensationalism...


That doesn't make it's status right, but if there is a financial reason for teams to back out, there may well be a financial reason for media coverage to fall off as well. Not saying that's the main cause, nor the chief motivation here but it's part of it.

I assume German business has done their research on placing their products via cycling coverage , I assume their figures are not good , this is a vicious cycle ( PI ) , and this is where the media come in , if there is no perspective and a sense of proportion in their coverage of the sport eg put doping in a historical context , comparison with other sports , some perspective on the efforts of German cycling to eradicate doping ie huge efforts. If all the foregoing is absent from your coverage of the sport , and it is sensationalist and negative then it would be a miracle if German business did not conclude that cycle sport was no vehicle for their products.
This is all self-fulfilling.
Compare the German case with recent-ish cases in France , Belgium and Italy of doping scandals , Cofidis , Festina , Landuyt , VDB , Drugs for Oil etc etc
Why did Belgian , French and Italian sponsors , media and race organisers not abandon cycling ?
Because the media in these countries were never only unremittingly pessemistic and negative and , most importantly , cyclesport is woven into the national fabric in these countries , and could rely on the residual goodwill and support of the public.