Phonak to fold?

It seems Phonak owner Andy Rihs is ready to throw in the towel: he has no sponsor for his team for the coming year, and the dream is over, done in by too many doping cases, and capped off by Floyd Landis testing positive after his Tour de France victory.

iShares, a division of Barclay Bank, was scheduled to take over as the main sponsor. USA Cycling President Jim Ochowicz, who works for Barclays as an investment consultant and is also a paid consultant to Rihs' ARcycling AG, was tipped to manage the team, but according to Blick magazine, the company has backed out of the deal.