Yet another reason to post about the Tour de France on MobileCrunch this week: German state television channels ARD and ZDF have pulled race coverage following a positive drug test by German cyclist Patrick Sinkewitz, a rider for the T-Mobile sponsored team. The German Cycling Union, the BDR, said there were possible signs of abuse of the male hormone testosterone.
The pulling of the race is big news as T-Mobile is this year’s biggest sponsor of professional cycling, and this premier event was one that was being used to push mobile TV viewing in Europe. But as a result of the news about Sinkewitz, not to mention the fact that two other high profile riders quit the race this week, making chances for the team in pink to have any of winning all but impossible, T-Mobile has suggested it will examine its future in the sport. T-Mobile had put emphasis on younger riders and took a strict internal policy for drug testing, going so far as to fire a rider earlier this season.
German TV pulls coverage after T-Mobile rider fails test [Guardian Online]