Astana having banking troubles
A few cycling teams have hit a snag in taking the step from submitting the application for a license from the UCI and making it onto the list of the Pro teams. The list of teams applying for ProTour status is notably lacking Astana and Pegasus Racing, while
the list of Pro Continental teams is lacking Team Type 1 and Bretagne-Schuller.
Kazakhstan-based team Astana, which hosted Alberto Contador in the four most recent of his five Grand Tour overall victories and was Lance Armstrong’s first team out of retirement, was reportedly unable to secure a bank guarantee in time and their application
was deemed incomplete.
“The Astana team announce[d] that it is not on the list of teams selected to the Pro-Tour only temporarily, because of a too-short period for submission of bank guarantee, which will be forwarded to the UCI headquarters in the coming hours,” read a statement
by the team.
The UCI specifically required team Astana to submit a bank guarantee due to the team’s history of financial difficulty. In May of 2009, it was discovered that many riders on the team had not been paid in months.
The applications were due on October 1. The UCI has explained that teams can still complete the application after that date, but that they will be subjected to an automatic per-day fee increase, and any rider will be permitted to cancel their contract until
October 31 without charge.
“Teams who were not complying with all requirements by October 1 can still fulfil the application and get their licence,” confirmed a UCI spokesman. “Bbox will now apply as ProConti, Astana and Pegasus as ProTeam."
In 2011, Contador will no longer be riding for the team, which has in the past been plagued by leadership struggles between Contador, Armstrong and Alexandre Vinokourov. The latter had also struggled with former director Johan Bruyneel until he left with
Armstrong to form Team RadioShack.
Notoriously-controlling Vinokourov will now be the team leader, and at 37 years old, he still intends to win the Tour de France before he retires. He finished on the podium in third place overall in 2003 and he won the Vuelta a Espana in 2006.
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