France's disappointing sporting double whammy

It hasn't been a great week for French sport - or at least not for two events held annually here.

First up there was the announcement that next year's Formula 1 Grand Prix at Magny Cours would be cancelled. And then came news that Germany's public television channels had decided not to broadcast live cycling's Tour de France in 2009.

Lack of money is behind the decision to cancel next year's French Formula 1 Grand Prix.

On Wednesday the president of la Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA), Nicolas Deschaux, announced that there would be no race in France during the 2009 calendar.

The decision is probably not too much of a surprise given that the rights to stage last year's race reportedly cost around €13 million and it made a loss of €1 million.

With partners pulling out because of the economic climate here in France and the belt tightening required, the FFSA would be forced to foot the bill alone.

"The federation cannot pay to host the Grand Prix by itself," said Dechaux. "It's too much of a risk."

So no French Grand Prix for 2009, but there's still the chance that it might return in 2010 - although there's likely to be pretty stiff competition from other countries such as South Korea, Russia and India, who are also apparently looking to fill the available slot.

France currently has six other projects in place to host a Grand Prix in either 2010 or a year later. A renovated Magny Cours is one possible bidder, but the whole thing could take on a distinctly Disney-like character as Marne-la-Vallée, also home to EuroDisney is in pole position to find the money for the event.

In the world of cycling, organisers of next year's Tour de France, were dealt a blow on Thursday when one of Germany's public television channels, ARD, announced that it would not be broadcasting next year's Tour de France live.

"The sporting value of the Tour de France has declined because of the increase in the number of doping cases," said Fritz Raff, the president of ARD. "As a result the interest in broadcasting it has also diminished accordingly," he added.

Hours later the country's other public channel, ZDF, confirmed that it wouldn't be showing live coverage without ARD - effectively shutting the door on live transmission on German public television of the Tour.

Tour organisers, Amaury Sports Organisation (AMO), say they've done everything that was requested of them to weed out the cheats.

In a statement after the announcement AMO all but accused ARD of making the battle against catching drug takers even harder.

"ARD requested a fight against doping but gets upset when we find case," it said.

"It would be better to test and find nothing. In taking this decision, ARD is unfortunately encouraging those leading the fight against doping to throw in the towel in order to ensure broadcasting."

In spite of the organiser's efforts to keep this year's Tour clean and come down hard on those taking drugs, the recent revelations that Stefan Schumacher and his team mate Bernhard Kohl had tested positive for the banned substance EPO seem to have been the final straw for the two channels.

Both men rode for the German team, Gerolsteiner, with Kohl finishing third overall in the Tour and winning the polka dot jersey for best climber.

After suspending live broadcasting of the Tour two years ago following a series of doping scandals, ARD returned to cover the event in 2008, albeit with less airtime than in previous years.

In spite of public television's decision, there'll still be a way for German cycling fans to watch the Tour live on the small screen, just as they did in 2007 when a public channel, Sat 1, stepped in to cover the event.

The pan-European sports channel, Eurosport, will continue to carry the Tour live.