HTC and Highroad still an item?

The Financial Times has printed a correction to its story yesterday on Highroad's reported problems in securing sponsorship for next year, stating that the team is still in discussion with the Taiwanese giant HTC and other potential backers.

Highroad - not the end of the road

Precisely how the newspapers got from Bob Stapleton blaming the reticence of some companies to become involved in professional cycling to a doom and gloom story spelling out the end of one of the sport's most popular and successful teams and the probable apocalypse bringing an end to cycling as we know it remains a mystery, but that's the newspapers for you.

Anyway, since we're not part of the professional scene we rely on the news and published a story on it yesterday. Much of it can be ignored - chances are Highroad's cyclists will be hanging around and the team will continue nurturing new stars under Stapleton's patronage for many years. However, we'll keep the story up because the problem of doping discouraging companies from sponsoring teams for fear of tarnishing their public images remains a very real one.