More of The End Part 2

Trek bicycles, which Lance Armstrong successfully pressured them to ditch Armstrong critic Greg LeMond, has decided to ditch Lance for good.

“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him,” the sneaker industry leader said in a statement. “Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.”

Trek offered a similar reason for cutting ties with Armstrong. “Trek is disappointed by the findings and conclusions in the USADA report regarding Lance Armstrong,” a statement from the bike company reads. “Given the determinations of the report, Trek today is terminating our longterm relationship with Lance Armstrong.”

For companies like Nike and Trek, the decision to drop a celebrity doesn’t come lightly. They’ve invested millions in building a brand that’s become deeply intertwined with the identity of the endorser. “There’s a fair amount of strategy and research that go into it. You view it as a long-term linkage,” says Allen Adamson, a managing director at brand consulting firm Landor Associates. “Turning the switch off is not without a cost.”

Trek should apologize to Greg LeMond, who told the truth all along.

This was published before Nike ditched Lance:

During a 2006 deposition related to the suit, Kathy LeMond testified that Julian Devries, a mechanic for Armstrong's team who was once close to her husband, had told her and others that Nike and Thom Weisel, a Bay Area banker who sponsored Armstrong's team, had wired $500,000 to a Swiss bank account that belonged to Verbruggen.

In an interview with the Daily News on Monday, Kathy LeMond said she stood by her testimony. "I'm sure Julian was telling the truth," she said. Greg LeMond also testified in the suit.

The money, Kathy Lemond said Devries told her and several others, was sent to cover up a 1999 positive drug test for corticosteroids, which Armstrong had used to treat saddle sores. Devries, Kathy Lemond said during the deposition, had been disgusted by the way performance-enhancing drugs had polluted cycling.

Still more corporations have dumped "Shoeless Joe" Armstrong:

-- Hours later, Anheuser-Busch, which used Armstrong to pitch Michelob, issued a statement that said, "We have decided not to renew our relationship with Lance Armstrong."

...

-- 24 Hour Fitness issued a forceful statement, saying, "Given the evidence surrounding Lance Armstrong's alleged actions, we have determined that our business relationship with Armstrong no longer aligns with our company's mission and values."

-- Sports drink producer FRS announced Armstrong had resigned from its board. In a statement, Matt Kohler, the company's chief marketing officer, said "this seemed like a good time to part ways."

-- Honey Stinger, a Colorado company that markets energy foods that Armstrong partially owns, issued a statement that said "we are in the process of removing Lance Armstrong's image and endorsement from our product packaging."

-- The maker of Giro helmets, which Armstrong often wore, said in a statement it will "not be continuing our sponsorship of Lance Armstrong moving forward."

-- RadioShack issued a statement that said it had "no current obligations" to Armstrong under a sponsorship deal it agreed to in July 2009, but declined to disclose further details about its relationship.