Gerolsteiner Team Manager Hans-Michael Holczer has "received signals" that his Pro Tour license will be extended through the 2010 season, and he has contract with his sponsor through 2008. Jörg Croseck, marketing director for the company, said in the team's yearbook that the sponsoring contract "offers us ideal conditions for continuing to write the ongoing Gerolsteiner success story as well as establishing a solid yet dynamic foundation for the Gerolsteiner brand - one that will long continue to offer us competitive advantages."
But that was before Operation Puerto and the other doping problems that have arisen during the 2006 season. More and more negative headlines appeared in Germany and throughout the world, a consideration for a company that exports to 35 countries. In addition, the German public television broadcasters have announced that they will seriously consider cutting back or even eliminating their coverage of cycling. Now, Stefan Göbel, director of Corporate Communications at Gerolsteiner, told Cyclingnews: "If cycling loses its attraction, we would naturally have to think about our engagement. The media presence is an important part of that decision."
