The doping crisis may cost German cycling its final ProTour team, as sponsor Nordmilch AG reacted to the announcement that the 2009 Tour de France will not be shown on public German television. "We need to reassess the value of our sponsorship. This will be possible by the end of this year after we estimate the complete impact on the advertising effect regarding our brand, Milram, for 2009," said Martin Mischel, Director of Sales and Marketing.
In a statement, Mischel said that "We deeply regret the exit of the public broadcast stations ARD and ZDF regarding the live-coverage of the Tour de France. Some incorrigible persons succeeded in enforcing a cutback of the media coverage. Million of cycling fans will have to suffer from this."
