Truckmaker MAN drops cycling sponsorship

MUNICH, Germany --German truckmaker MAN AG ended a sponsorship deal Friday with cycling team CSC because of the ongoing doping scandals in the sport.

MAN said cycling was no longer a suitable marketing platform following the latest doping scandal. Two weeks ago, several Team Telekom riders admitted they used the blood-booster EPO in the 1990s.

Among them was CSC manager Bjarne Riis, who won the 1996 Tour de France for Team Telekom.

MAN threatened to drop its sponsorship last year after the Spanish blood-doping scandal implicated more than 50 riders, including Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich.

MAN said it continued to sponsor CSC because the Danish team launched one of the most rigorous anti-doping programs in cycling, but the Team Telekom scandal has proved to be a further disappointment.