Few big-time bankers get as excited by cycling as Piet van Schijndel. Then again, he has millions of dollars in sponsorship riding on races such as the Tour de France.
Perhaps Van Schijndel's best moment came in July during this year's Tour when Michael Rasmussen crossed the finish of the 16th stage with "Rabobank" emblazoned on his chest.
The Dane had won the Tour's toughest Pyrenees stage for Rabobank -- one of the biggest banks in the Netherlands -- and appeared to have a lock on the title.
"I saw him win the stage on the Aubisque mountain at 5pm, then at 8pm, I got this call," said Van Schijndel, an executive board member of Rabobank.
In what Van Schijndel called a "nightmare," Rabobank pulled Rasmussen out of the Tour for lying about his whereabouts to avoid doping tests. Things got worse a few days later when rumors surfaced that a team leader was also involved.
Rabobank immediately ordered an inquiry, which found that Rasmussen acted on his own without team involvement. He was fired and Rabobank emerged with its reputation intact.
"We employ 50,000 people. Everybody knows here that if you put your hands in the till and take a euro, you are gone," Van Schijndel said.
In cycling, doping allegations can instantly tarnish a sponsor's reputation -- and make it difficult to draw new multinational companies into the sport.
Because of the doping scandals, the cost of sponsoring a cycling team has leveled off in the past two years at an annual average of about 8 million euros(US$11.75 million).
Deutsche Telekom, the main sponsor of the T-Mobile team, last month ended its 16-year involvement in cycling because of a series of doping cases. Audi and Adidas also dropped their team.
When Discovery Channel stopped sponsoring of Lance Armstrong's former team this year, team leader Johan Bruyneel had a replacement firm lined up. But it pulled out at the last minute because of doping scandals.
Wim Lagae, a professor in sports marketing at Leuven University in Belgium, said cycling is not alone in facing sponsorship problems and that, as risks go, it remains an attractive niche.
"There are a lot worse deals to be had," Lagae said. But "in bad times ... there is this immediate overshoot, and you end up in crisis communication."
On the plus side, cycling sponsors gets major and immediate exposure since the brand name is the team name. Exposure is huge in key European markets almost throughout the year, and globally during the Tour de France.
Next season promises to be crucial for the future of professional cycling -- if doping stays in the news its downward spiral might become irreversible.
"It will be the time of truth," Van Schijndel said. "If it doesn't get better and we get more incidents, it will be very bleak."
Lagae, however, sees it as a time of opportunity, much as a savvy investor buys when stocks are down.
"For a smart company, this is the time to get in," he said.
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