FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- T-Mobile withdrew as the official television
sponsor of the Tour de France on Germany's two public stations after doping
admissions by some of its former top riders in the 1990s.
The German telecommunications giant will continue to sponsor a team under
its name.
The television broadcasters, ARD and ZDF, confirmed Wednesday the deal
reportedly worth $1.33 million was canceled. ZDF will continue to run normal
advertising spots for T-Mobile, and ARD is looking for a similar solution.
The sponsorship money will go into anti-doping efforts, T-Mobile spokesman
Christian Frommert said.
T-Mobile has been shaken by a series of doping admissions by some of its
former top riders in the 1990s, when it raced under the name Telekom.
Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour de France winner, was removed from the list of
winners after admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during the
event.
Jan Ullrich, Germany's biggest star, won the Tour de France in 1997 and
denied any wrongdoing despite allegations by a former team masseur that he
gave the blood booster EPO and human growth hormones to Ullrich.
Ullrich retired in February after being implicated in the Spanish doping
scandal Operation Puerto.
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