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After scandal, cycling struggles for sponsors
The New York Times
With the Tour de France approaching this summer, the sport of cycling is taking brutal spills in corporate suites, where deals are made to sponsor competitions with little attention to return on investment.

The annual Championship of Zurich — which had endured for almost a century, even during World War II — was canceled last month by Swiss organizers unable to enlist new sponsors to replace backers scared by the doping scandal that ensnared the American rider Floyd Landis.

So was the Tour of Utah, which was abandoned after organizers failed to attract enough sponsors for the six-day, 500-mile race in July.

On May Day, riders in the Frankfurt Grand Prix sprinted by a grain silo owned by the German brewery Henninger, which backs the 46-year-old event. But organizers had struggled to court other sponsors.

“The sponsors all talked to us about the image of cycling because of all the doping affairs with Mr. Landis and Jan Ullrich,” said Angelika Müller, a spokeswoman for the event. “We were only able to get them because they were contacts we had for many years.” —Full story

That's the view from on high — but what's the story down at the local level? Are the doping scandals affecting bicycle racing in your hometown? Have you noticed fewer people — spectators or competitors — at races? Do your non-cycling friends crack steroid jokes about you? Has your favorite local race lost sponsorship? Do you have doubts about letting your promising son or daughter continue in the sport? Send your thoughts about the health of your local cycling scene to us at webletters@insideinc.com. Please include your full name, hometown, and state or nation. — Editor