Global financial crisis hobbles Armstrong's Astana team: "We haven't been paid for 2 months"

SHOOT: Lance is probably going to bring Nike and some other US sponsors in, but it goes to show how deep and wide the financial malaise actually is.

clipped from www.google.com Armstrong had a new role Friday: labor activist. "It's definitely not a good sign," Di Luca said. "It's the richest team in the world and the team that spends the most." "My e-mail has been pretty busy during the stage. I got a response from Kazakhstan," team manager Johan Bruyneel said. "I definitely think it had a lot of effect." Astana receives most of its financial support from the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, but the Central Asian nation's economy has been hit hard by the global financial crisis. "I'm really sorry for them that they don't get paid," Boasson Hagen said. "I really hope they find some money so the team stays. It's not good for the sport if the team goes away." The only logos visible on the faded jerseys were those for KazMunayGas, Trek bicycles and Armstrong's cancer foundation, Livestrong. Armstrong indicated last week he was talking to U.S. sponsors about taking over the team himself.