Lance’s Team Bites the Dust

Lance Armstrong’s former cycling team is shutting down after failing to find a new corporate sponsor. The Discovery Channel squad would normally have no trouble staying afloat after one of its riders won the Tour de France this summer, the New York Times reports. But
 doping scandals have had a disastrous effect on the sport.

“This is arguably the most successful sports franchise” ever, said the team’s general manager. USA Today reports that members of the outfit, formerly the U.S. Postal Service team, won eight of the last nine Tours. Discovery expelled the Italian great Ivan Basso after he admitted to doping, but no rider has ever been sanctioned while with the team. (More Discovery Channel stories.)