Armstrong Discusses Astana Team Take Over

July 22nd, 2010 12:33pm

By ANDREW DAMPF, AP Sports Writer VENICE, Italy (AP)—Lance Armstrong has received “high interest� from sponsors willing to back his cycling team if he takes over control of financially strapped Astana. Astana receives most of its financial support from Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation’s economy has been badly hit by the global financial crisis. The team has not paid its employees lately. “Considering the economy and considering global sports sponsorships … it’s a tough climate for all that stuff. We’ve had high interest,� Armstrong told The Associated Press on Thursday as he prepared for the start of his first Giro d’Italia. The seven-time Tour de France winner indicated the sponsor would come from a U.S.-based multinational company. “You’re not going to find one in a week and say, ‘By the way, we need 10 million bucks, please come on.’ They don’t jump that quick,� he said. ADVERTISEMENT Armstrong said he and Astana team director Johan Bruyneel, the architect behind his Tour wins with the U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel squads, have been “kicking around the idea� of taking over the team for the last eight or nine months, and could commit themselves to the sport for “close to 10 years.� “We have to find $15 million. It’s never a done deal until you get the funding from someone or a consortium of people,� Armstrong said at a news conference. “But we think we can organize the best cycling team in the world— like we did for 10 years.� Kazakhstan Cycling Federation deputy chief Nikolai Proskurin indicated he is open to Armstrong taking over. “I am in favor of developing sport, so if Kazakhstan cannot afford to do it, then some other person may take over,� Proskurin told the AP. “We will be discussing this matter with the prime minister in the coming days. The problem is not with us, it is with the sponsors, who have not paid us.� Proskurin declined to specify the sponsors, although Air Astana is known to have withdrawn its support. “We have done everything possible,� he said, adding that he believes $5 million has been paid to the team this year. The Astana team has direct backing from President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and there is political will to keep it alive. “After all, we do not have any other similar projects of this size,� Proskurin said. Armstrong is riding for free for Astana this season after 3 1/2 years of retirement. His Livestrong cancer foundation could play a role in recruiting a team sponsor. “I’m already investing myself. Not taking a salary is sort of some sort of investment,� he said. “There’s no equity, you can’t own anything in cycling. You can say you own a team, but then you don’t own anything. When the contract is up and the obligations of the sponsor are up, you’re left with nothing. You’re left with bikes and cars and buses and trucks.� The International Cycling Union could revoke Astana’s ProTour license if the team does not sort out its financial situation soon, perhaps even before the Giro ends on May 31. “I think if they pull it and they don’t have the funding, that’s the last race (for Astana),� Armstrong said. “All that UCI business is out of my league. I don’t know any of those rules.� Armstrong suggested nobody on the team is currently being paid. “I would know if I was taking a paycheck because I’d be livid,� he said. “I remember back in the day, there were times (payments) were a couple of days late and I’d go crazy.� Still recovering his form after breaking his collarbone in a fall in March, Armstrong will support teammate Levi Leipheimer during the Giro, which begins with a team time trial Saturday. “At the dinner table, you don’t sense any bitterness or nervousness,� Armstrong said. “Most of these dudes are really professional and so they’re going to do their job either way. I think they’re optimistic something will work out either way. Hopefully they’ll pay or we’ll find someone else.� Armstrong also said he would do everything he could to keep defending Giro winner and 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador if ownership ends up in his hands. “If I were the boss of the team or I were partners with Johan, I would want him on the team,� Armstrong said. “I would not let him go.� Armstrong had his 26th doping control Thursday as part of the routine UCI checks of all 22 squads ahead of the Giro. “It’s more of health check,� he said. “It’s part of the UCI’s biological passport. … Just blood, no hair.� Associated Press writer Peter Leonard in Moscow contributed to this report.

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