"Yeah, about that check..."

Then...

January 10, 2005:

"We look forward to developing with Lance and the entire Team Discovery Channel the highest quality programs about healthy living, medical breakthroughs, the science of sports, and cancer survivorship and education for our worldwide audience," says Discovery chief executive Judith McHale in a statement.

And now...

February 9, 2007:

In a statement, Discovery said it was proud to sponsor the team for three seasons, but "we have decided to aggressively shift our focus and resources to support our core business goals and objectives. And our core business goals don't include 2nd-tier pros like George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer nor reclamation projects like Ivan Basso."

Whoops...