After Manolo Sainz has been arrested due to doping investigations, his Spanish team was demolished today, because Liberty Seguros, their main sponsor, has withdrawn their financial help. Thus, a pretty correct statement would be this: starting today, the Liberty Seguros Team will be no more.
The main reason for withdrawing their sponsorship is, no doubt about it, the above mentioned scandal, in which Sainz is the primary suspect.
After Roberto Heras tested positive a year ago, having to suffer a 2 year ban by the Anti-Doping Organizations, the company seems to have had just enough with cycling competitions.
"As sponsors, Liberty Seguros have always wanted to promote a culture of fair play and zero tolerance with respect to doping. In November 2005 after the suspension of a rider (Roberto Heras) for doping we made our contract one of the most rigorous with regard to this subject. The implications and consequences of the detention of Manolo Saiz are highly worrying; they damage our name and the name of cycling. We have cancelled our agreement with the owners of the team (Active Bay) and will respect outstanding financial obligations", said the company representatives in the latest official statement.
It seemed that the total balance of the contract with Manolo Sainz team was in value of 8 million Euros/season. Well, from now on, most of the riders of Sainz's team will have to look for new jobs all over the cycling world, especially since the Tour de France is only a few weeks away.
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