Stapleton unhappy with Adidas

By Brecht Decaluwé in Castres

News of Adidas' potential withdrawal of sponsorship of his T-Mobile team, general manager Bob Stapleton expressed his disappointment at hearing the news via the press. Reacting to news on Patrick Sinkewitz' positive out-of-competition test and following doping revelations from riders of the former German Telekom team (which went on to become T-Mobile), the sportswear company indicated that they were considering ending its sponsorship of the team.

It's been a rollercoaster week for T-Mobile after the glory with the stage win and the yellow jersey for Linus Gerdemann, to the dejection after the crash of Michael Rogers and the doping news from Patrick Sinkewitz. Team manager Bob Stapleton said he didn't hear the news from Adidas but he read about it in the media.

At the finish line in Castres, Stapleton expressed his feelings about the rumours. "This is the second time it happens with Adidas. They signed a contract in May and as far as I know they plan on sticking to it," Stapleton said to Cyclingnews. "Anyway, I'm not strictly concerned," Stapleton continued to explain that the spot from Adidas could be easily replaced by other companies. "To me it is a great brand but there are two other companies that contacted me."

Stapleton explained that he didn't like the exaggerated reactions from the world around cycling. "There is so much drama around this stuff now that people are forgetting that there are a lot of attractive things about the sport and about the team," the T-Mobile's manager talked about the positive side of the sport. "So for me it would be unfortunate, I like Adidas - they've been a good partner but I think there are others waiting in the wings," admitted Stapleton.