Virgin on the ridiculous?

By Heather Milksop

The Virgin Group, the British conglomerate owned by flamboyant adventurer and buisnessman Sir Richard Branson, is to become the new title sponsor of a current ProTour team, Cyclingnews has learned by way of idle chatter overheard in an exclusive London gentlemen's club.

Sir Richard told close friend Sir Paul McCartney that Virgin is now adding cycling to its long list of interests, which ranges from airlines to credit cards to space tourism. Sir Paul, who has some experience with a bicycle team, advised that "the cycling business has a few unpleasant things in common with the music industry", while other members of the club thought it to be a serious tilt at the newspaper delivery business.

However, Sir Richard explained that bicycles without newspaper baskets were also used for racing, and the sport was popular among the common folk. It's understood the adventurer identified the USA's ProTour squad, which is in need of a new sponsor for 2008, because he liked the sound of Virgin-Discovery.