Lance Armstrong still can’t be beat.
Despite this week’s allegations that the 40-year-old cycling champ turned triathlete used performance-enhancing drugs, his corporate sponsors and fans are sticking with him.
Sponsors — including Nike, sunglasses brand Oakley and Anheuser-Busch — issued statements of support yesterday for Armstrong while marketing experts and shoppers agree that the Texan’s achievements and positive image outweigh the allegations.
“He’s successfully ridden out past allegations about this before,” Kevin Adler, president of Engage Marketing, a leading Chicago-based sports marketing firm, told The Post. “This is just another first round. What he’s proven is that over time, due process works very well in his favor.”
Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
Despite recent doping allegations, cycling champ Lance Armstrong (above) still has the support of his fans, including Thom Rowland, who said he’ll continue buying Livestrong merchandise.
The public seems to have a distinct separation between accusations and proven facts before making their judgments, Adler said.
“Personal achievement has earned him the right to reclaim celebrity status no matter what the outcome,” said branding expert Jarrod Moses of United Entertainment Group.
Armstrong is accused by the US Anti-Doping Agency of using the performance enhancing drug, EPO, and human growth hormone.
Similar accusations have dogged Armstrong for years, and he has continuously and strenuously denied them.
The charges may lead to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
With the USADA charges, Armstrong cannot compete in any triathlons.
He was training for a June 24 event in France.
Armstrong has until next Friday to respond to the allegations.
Shoppers at the Niketown store on 57th Street were far from ready to castigate the cyclist.
“There is no question of his perseverance and dedication and focus on the positive,” Thom Rowland, 46, of Castle Rock, Colo., a colon cancer survivor shopping at Niketown, told The Post.
On the drug scandal, Rowland said he’d keep an open mind until the verdict.
“Everybody was doing it back then,” he said. “Was he at an advantage if everyone was doing it? But the flip side is, cheating is cheating.”
Queens resident Lucas Mendoza, 31, was buying a Livestrong T-shirt despite the doping charges.
“He is a good person,” Mendoza said. “He has done a lot of good things for people. I’m getting one of the shirts.”
The Livestrong foundation supports people with cancer. According to IRS filings, the not-for-profit based in Austin, Texas, brings in $43 million in tax-free money per year.
The company earns around $30 million from licensing the brand to stores such as Niketown where a T-shirt can cost $38.
The foundation plows back about $28 million annually to the public in marketing awards to health centers to raise awareness about ways of dealing with the disease.
While fans and sponsors are keeping the faith, Adler did say it may be wiser for those companies looking to jump onto the Armstrong brand to wait.
“If your brand is considering a new deal with Lance Armstrong, you might want to ride this one out. For new deals, I’d call this one a definite hold.”
catkinson@nypost.com
Lance Armstrong, Lance Armstrong, Thom Rowland, Kevin Adler, allegations, Livestrong, Anheuser-Busch, Nike, Jarrod Moses, Engage Marketing, performance-enhancing drugs
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