Big Doopie said:
... i think it's fascinating that time pedals felt it needed to go back 23 years to find a symbol that would encourage people to buy their product. not sure what it says about today.
What it says is pretty obvious. Manufacturers of cycling gear and their advertising agencies have a very clear understanding as to how destructive two decades of serial doping have had on the integrity of the sport.
Who wants to be associated with Trek or Nike after their abysmal judgment in selecting advertising role models.
The reality is Liestrong and the others, with the wilfull blindness of the UCI (McQuaid) have dragged the sport into the muck. This is why RadioShack is bailing. Others will do the same. Others advertisers who would otherwise advertise in the sport won't touch it.
Yet there is no movement to challenge McQuaid's Presidency. Garmin keeps hiring riders who have doped or were suspended for whereabouts violations. Other teams continue to hire past dopers. Other teams have DSs that doped. The clear message from the riders, the teams, the management and sponsors is they don't care about the integrity of the sport. They just stick their head in the sand hoping history will pass them by. Well it won't.
Cycling is down to its last bottle of oxygen.