Liberty Seguros Pulls the Plug!!

[Cornholio]

Wow!

Liberty Seguros pulled the sponsorship of the team over the doping charges and Saiz's arrest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ng/5016958.stm

from BBC:
Liberty Seguros has withdrawn its sponsorship of the pro cycling team after team boss Manolo Saiz was embroiled in a doping investigation.
Saiz was questioned and released by Spanish police on Wednesday in what has been described as Spain's biggest anti-doping investigation.

And Liberty Seguros announced in a statement on Thursday it had made its decision in the wake of his detention.

Saiz has been told he must be available to appear before a judge when required.

A statement from Spain's Civil Guard on Wednesday said: "Five people have been detained as suspects for crimes against public health.

"The Guard have raided a number of addresses and found a large quantity of medical supplies such as anabolic steroids etc, laboratory equipment for use in blood transfusions, and more than 100 frozen packs of blood."

Doping is not a criminal offence in Spain, so the investigation centres on public health issues.

Such offences carry prison sentences of between six months and three years.

This is the second time the Liberty team has been rocked by controversy - earlier this year team leader Roberto Heras was banned for two years after testing positive for banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) during the Tour of Spain.

[Cornholio]

And, fuck you very much, guys, for tossing further mud on the sport.

[Cornholio]

And this, from VeloNews's Live Update Guy:

Police sorting through the records of the doctor arrested along with Liberty director Manolo Saiz say that they have come across a rather extensive list of clients. According to news reports from Spain today, records indicate that several high profile cyclists, including T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich, were among Eufemiano Fuentes's patients.

[Long Duck Dong]

What does this mean for Vino?

[brettf]

And this, from VeloNews's Live Update Guy:

Police sorting through the records of the doctor arrested along with Liberty director Manolo Saiz say that they have come across a rather extensive list of clients. According to news reports from Spain today, records indicate that several high profile cyclists, including T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich, were among Eufemiano Fuentes's patients.

Effing wonderful.

[Plakespear]

Devil's Advocate: Stuff like this may be exactly what the sport needs. Eight years ago Festina still continued to sposor a team. If sponsors refuse to support dopers, this will discourage the practice more than UCI sanctions. Money talks, folks.

[Cornholio]

I thought about that too, actually, and I think it's good that they're withdrawing the dough. It's just not good that the riders were doping/got caught (which, frankly, is the same thing in the eyes of the sponsor).

If any sponsor pulled the plug on any team as soon as a rider was confirmed positive, that would sure send a message. Of course, there'd be no professional cycling anymore either, because it would be a fantastic risk. LS seem to have found a good balance there.

[Long Duck Dong]

So the team director was involved in a doping scandal. What does that mean for the riders? Are they just going to assume that all of them have been doping? Is it too late for them to join other teams or attract another sponsor for the tour?