January 19, 2008 — The Belgian-based Team Quick Step is looking for a new secondary sponsor reports AFP. The principal sponsor, floor-maker Quick Step, is willing to prolong its contract by four years but on the condition that a secondary sponsor will inject some four million euros ($ 6 million CDN) into the team’s ten million euro annual budget. This will not be easy given the doping scandals of 2007. We also learn that the team’s 27 cyclists (most team members are Belgian or Italian) will be wearing white this year. For the complete story in French click here.

German TV Retracts Accusations
The German television network ARD has now retracted allegations that top cyclists, cross-country skiers and biathletes used the services of a Vienna-based laboratory for blood doping reports AP. Cyclists Michael Rasmussen, Michael Boogerd, and Denis Menchov were all named by ARD as having been clients at Humanplasma Laboratory and all denied the allegations. But it is the German Ski Federation (DSV) that is taking legal action, but against the journalists who put together the report rather than against the network. ARD, together with the public network ZDF, are among DSV’s sponsors. Full story.

Gerolsteiner Confident of Finding Sponsor
Team Gerolsteiner boss, Hans-Michael Holczer, expressed confidence this week of finding a new title sponsor reports AFP. Gerolsteiner, a German mineral water bottler, announced in September that it will not sponsor the cycling team in 2009. Holczer indicated that his team is now working with Sportfive, a company that specializes in commercialization of professional sports rights, to find a new sponsor. More on this story here.

No Boonen in Beijing?
Belgian star Tom Boonen (Team Quick Step) said yesterday that he has decided not compete in the Beijing Olympics reports Reuters. Boonen justified his decision by saying the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics are just too close after the July 5-27 Tour de France and that, for him, the TdF is the bigger event. We wonder if other top level cyclists will follow Boonen on this”¦ click here for the full story.