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Lance Armstrong lost most of his sponsors yesterday. First Nike pulled the rug and then beer giant Anheuser-Busch said it would not be renewing its deal with Armstrong. Late in the afternoon Trek Bicycle terminated its relationship with the disgraced athlete, citing the "findings and conclusions in the USADA report." In the early 1990s Armstrong was gifted shares in the family-owned company and he retains this minority stake.
A statement from Trek was posted on its website, and sent to media contacts, but was not tweeted on the Trek Bicycles Twitter account.
The short statement said:
"Trek is disappointed by the findings and conclusions in the USADA report regarding Lance Armstrong. Given the determinations of the report, Trek today is terminating our longterm relationship with Lance Armstrong. Trek will continue to support the Livestrong Foundation and its efforts to combat cancer."
Trek is owned by the Burke family. John Burke, president of Trek, has a Twitter account, posts sporadically, and has made no mention of cutting ties with Armstrong.
Armstrong’s share in Trek is believed to be less than a quarter of one percent.
Oakley is now the only one of Armstrong’s major sponsors not to have pulled its support. An ironically non-ironic tribute page on the Oakley website says:
"There has never been an athlete like Lance Armstrong. One of the most driven and admired men of his generation, Armstrong’s resounding domination of his sport pales only in comparison to the indomitable power of his will to overcome all obstacles, seen and unseen."
In a series of four tweets this afternoon, Oakley said:
"As guilty as the evidence shows, which we completely acknowledge, it is our promise & contractual obligation to stand by our athletes until proven guilty by the highest governing body of sport, or a court of law. We might be last off but we are not going to jump on the bandwagon as it breaks our promise to all of our athletes.
"We will wait for the UCI’s conclusion and act at that time."
