The Rabo-Liv women's cycling team will lose its title sponsor at the end of '16, according to Gregor Brown of VELO NEWS. The team said that Rabobank will pull its backing after "five years of fruitful collaboration." Rabo-Liv GM Eric van den Boom said, "We will do our utmost to ensure continuity of this great team. We have something to offer to potential sponsors with a wonderful team and a great organization." The Dutch bank "gradually pulled the plug on cycling over the last five years." After 15 years, it ended its backing of the professional men’s team that produced "numerous titles and monument wins, but which was also tainted by doping scandals" in the wake of the Lance Armstrong case in '12. At that time, Rabobank said that it would "continue to support the women’s, under-23, and youth programs" though '16. It is now "backing away from the teams and its agreement with the Dutch cycling union." The bank will shift to local sports sponsorship. The announcement came one day after Rabobank announced it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 19% of its global workforce, over the next couple of years. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf journalist Hans Ruggenberg said, "The bank is going to lose a lot of jobs, that's probably the reason behind its decision, but also, in the past, they quit the men's team. Money-wise it is best that it stops these sponsorships" (VELO NEWS, 12/11).
