Kazakh government sponsors Astana

Eurosport - Mon, 08 Jun 17:42:00 2009

Kazakhstan's government has agreed to partially sponsor Lance Armstrong's cash-strapped Astana team to help it survive the economic crisis.

CYCLING 2009 Giro Lance Armstrong (Astana) - 0

Tourism and Sport Minister Temirzhan Dosmukhanbetov said the Kazakh-based team's total costs were about £10.6 million a year, but did not give details as to what portion of that the government was ready to provide.

"Our athletes are extremely fit at the moment. But having said that, the current financial situation is not really good," Dosmukhanbetov told a meeting of parliament.

"So I went to see President (Nursultan Nazarbayev) and he solved the problem.

"The question of financing has been settled as of today. I think we need to help sponsor this team because it represents our country's prestige. It is one of the criteria that helps us attract tourists.

"Americans and Europeans are trying to buy this team. It's easy to sell but we must do everything to save it."

The International Cycling Union had threatened to withdraw Astana's Pro-Tour license after riders complained their salaries were not being paid.

However, the UCI said last week the team had provided sufficient financial guarantees to continue racing.

During May's Giro d'Italia, seven-times Tour de France winner Armstrong and all but one of his team-mates blanked out the sponsors' names on their shirts in protest at the financial problems.

Astana are currently riding in the Dauphine Libere, a Tour de France warm-up which ends on Sunday. The Tour starts on July 4.

Reuters

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  1. Fair enough - I hadn't picked up any petulance, but­ I take your word for it. That said, if I was the star­ performer in any organisation and had my best ever year­ and my results eclipsed what my peers/colleagues were­ doing and my Managing Director announced that he/she­ was employing someone over my head on the basis of a­ personal relationship, in the full knowledge that I was­ better, then I'd be pretty p*ssed off, too. Thing­ is, brand 'Livestrong' is a global monster and,­ just like brand 'Beckham', exposure, column­ inches and merchandising goes a long way...........

    From pedro118118, on Thu 11 Jun 11:37AM

  2. pedro118118: Contador WAS whining about his position in­ the team when LA announced his comeback, and it seems­ that it was not only me who found that irritating.­ Anyway, I think Contador is an amazing talent and­ probably the best (or it the top 3) stage rider in the­ peloton today and I like the guy a lot, but I also­ think that his personality is not mature enough, or at­ least his behaviour in certain situations makes me­ think that.

    From merkadam, on Wed 10 Jun 11:59AM

  3. Whining? Contador? Please elaborate. From what I saw,­ Contador was not allowed to defend his TdF title and­ only granted entry to the Giro at the last minute. ­ Despite being under-prepared, he rode himself into form­ and won the event. He then rode a very good Vuelta and­ performed well at the Olympics and Worlds in support of­ others. I've never heard any whining?

    From pedro118118, on Wed 10 Jun 9:04AM

  4. I hope Lance can win another Tour. :-) I don't­ really care much about what Contador does. He was a­ turn off last year with all his whining.

    From mercurycu, on Tue 9 Jun 4:16PM

  5. Sadly, Contador is snookered - his face doesn't­ fit. It's like some young buck joining the family­ business - not matter how good you are, the­ support/favour will always be with LA. I would like to­ see Contador move to another (ideally Spanish) team to­ fulfil his potential - there may soon be a big vacancy­ at Caisse D'Epargne if CONI get their way with­ Valverde!

    From pedro118118, on Tue 9 Jun 3:55PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I care only about Alberto Contador

    From bobcha78, on Tue 9 Jun 1:16PM

  7. I don't care if Astana survive or not - the team is­ a joke. They have the best stage racer in the world­ and he is forced to play second-fiddle. The­ Bruyneel/Armstrong partnership is borne out of pure­ self-interest/self-promotion and they would be better­ off simply running the Livestrong Bruyneel presented by­ Trek, Nike, Oakley, Giro team. The Kazakhs have­ clearly lost interest since the whole Vino scandal -­ the money is a smokescreen - £10m is chicken feed to­ the massive corporates invovled.

    From pedro118118, on Tue 9 Jun 9:15AM

  8. Well, I personally hope that Astana survives!

    From keithrussell473, on Tue 9 Jun 8:08AM
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