Mineral water bottling company Gerolsteiner said it will not extend its sponsorship contract of the German ProTour cycling team when it expires at the end of the 2008 season.

Gerolsteiner has sponsored the team since 1998, and is said to have invested 9 million euros ($12 million) in the sport annually.

Professional cycling, however, has been plagued by doping scandals over the past few years which many critics claim have tarnished the sport's image.

Scandals "devalue" cycling

Gerolsteiner said in a press release that the recent, high-profile doping cases did not prompt the company's decision to stop sponsorship. However, the scandals had served to "temporarily devalue cycling as a communication platform," the company said.

According to Gerolsteiner, it made its decision to stop sponsorship as early as this past spring.

It said cycling played only a minor role among the interests of its product consumers and said it must broaden its marketing campaigns.

Gerolsteiner's ProTour team includes Stefan Schumacher from Germany and top Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin.

German mobile phone company T-Mobile has chosen a different path with regard to cycling promotion. On Aug. 9, the company said it would extend its sponsorship of its ProTour team until 2010, despite T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz's failed drugs test this summer.

The UCI ProTour is a competition which includes primary cycling tours like the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, as well as other races.