CSC Won't Renew Pro-Team Sponsorship

Another big sponsor has decided to abandon professional cycling: CSC. Unlike Discovery Channel, whose team organization, Tailwind Sports, disbanded, or T-Mobile, which continued on without a sponsor under the name Team High Road, CSC has promised to help the Dutch-based team find a new sponsor. I still have to applaud Tailwind Sports' foresight in quitting international cycling, where the power plays between the race organizers and the sport's governing bodies continue, sacrificing the athletes' rights and protections, and ultimately making sponsorship a bad bet. Team Astana definitely felt the brunt of this new cloud hanging over cycling, when even rebuilding the team with new management and new riders, still had them excluded from all French races at the whim of the organizer. Well, when the Tour de France turns into a regional race with only French teams participating, and the rest of the world tunes out, at least ASO can be happy with their first French winner since 1985.