Kazak government bail out Astana

iainf72

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/n ... YHeadlines

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

Wait til the people funding the team demand x % of the Tour squad are from the homeland...

secretsqirrel

But that is the case now. And rightly so IMHO.

Bruyneel is obliged to have 8 to 10 Kazakh riders on the roster. I dare say he is not particulary happy that he doesn't have the freedom to pick and choose his roster, but he must have known that when he took on the team.

I wonder what attracted him to one of the (at the time) richest teams in the Pro-Tour :twisted:

I am surprised that he has got away with squads such as the ToC team that had no Kazakhs at all!

The problem for the Kazakh sponsors is that most do not operate in Europe or America, so the advertising the team does on the road is of no worth. I guess they got into it for the love of the sport (and Vino!).

Bruyneel & LA must be doing a good job of winding then up by fading out the flag though.

dennisn

Dumb question, but then again I live over here(USA) and not over there. Just what are the
Kazakh government tourism offices trying to sell? Beaches, ski resorts,???? Why would I go there???? Just curious???

Kléber

They are backed by various state-controlled companies like the state railways and airline, plus a couple of mining companies. It has a little to do with actually marketing goods and services and is instead a political vanity project first set up for the glory of arch-doper Vinokourov on behalf of a semi-dictatorial state and its political leaders where the incumbent government has an iron grip on power and senior opposition politicians meet grizzly deaths if they speak too loud.

dennisn

Kléber wrote:

They are backed by various state-controlled companies like the state railways and airline, plus a couple of mining companies. It has a little to do with actually marketing goods and services and is instead a political vanity project first set up for the glory of arch-doper Vinokourov on behalf of a semi-dictatorial state and its political leaders where the incumbent government has an iron grip on power and senior opposition politicians meet grizzly deaths if they speak too loud.

So, working on my tan and / or blasting through the fresh, deep, powder snow is not something I'd go there for???? Add to that "grizzly deaths" if I speak too loud(and you know me), hell, I wouldn't last a day there. Guess I'll take a pass for now.

deejay

dennisn wrote:

Dumb question, but then again I live over here(USA) and not over there. Just what are the
Kazakh government tourism offices trying to sell? Beaches, ski resorts,???? Why would I go there???? Just curious???

For exactly the same reason that the EAST GERMAN STATE did produce those horrendous looking athletes 30/40 years ago that won Olympic and World Championships.
Answer The Prestige of the State by the ruling class.

When the wall came down, then a little German Telephone Company employed these people in a cycle race team for publicity in the East of the new country and didn't they do well.
It worked so well in Germany that the whole world now know and respect this company.
Only a few of us remember how it was done. ie Olaf Ludwig, Bjarne Riis.

shinyhelmut

dennisn wrote:

So, working on my tan and / or blasting through the fresh, deep, powder snow is not something I'd go there for????

If you don't mind some seriously antique chairs you can ski in Kazakhstan

It's all pretty basic but when I skied there 10 years ago there were no queues and lots of powder

blazing_saddles

Lets hope they can stump up some cash for some new kit.
That wash out lot is washed up.

micron

Interesting snippet from cyclismag suggesting that the guarantee was suspended when Gusev tested positive until such time as the there was a judgement in the case. The Kazakh Fed then had to sump up another guarantee. So, the money was there all the time...

Arkibal

micron wrote:

Interesting snippet from cyclismag suggesting that the guarantee was suspended when Gusev tested positive until such time as the there was a judgement in the case. The Kazakh Fed then had to sump up another guarantee. So, the money was there all the time...

Am I missing something, when did Gusev test positive?

Pokerface

dennisn wrote:

Just what are the Kazakh government tourism offices trying to sell? Beaches??

No - the Borat Mankini!

Kléber

Talking of ugly clothing, the Astana team started today's Dauphiné stage in the normal kit, complete with visible sponsor names.

Poor Bruyneel looks a bit sheepish now, his plan to wrestle the licence away from the Kazakh government now has FAIL stamped all over it.

You heard it here first: Vinokourov will take over the team as their new DS for 2010.

andy_wrx

So, would that be an improvement or not ?

secretsqirrel

Ahh....... the Siege of Astana is over.

The food parcels are getting through.

Vinokourov sits in his big, black, leather swivel chair.

Strokes the snow leopard.

Knocks back the vodka.

Presses the button of the intercom.

"Bring me Bruyneel.................alive".

drenkrom

dennisn wrote:

Dumb question, but then again I live over here(USA) and not over there. Just what are the
Kazakh government tourism offices trying to sell? Beaches, ski resorts,???? Why would I go there???? Just curious???

Kazakhstan is an important destination for alpinism and big-wall rockclimbing. Then again, Beth Rodden and her team were captured by rebels while climbing on the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in the early 2000's. They escaped after pushing some of their captors off a cliff.

So it's a place for quite the adventurous vacation, it seems.

Clemson Cycling

Who might that American company be?

dennisn

Pokerface wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Just what are the Kazakh government tourism offices trying to sell? Beaches??

No - the Borat Mankini!

Nice. Not sure I see myself in one though. Not sure anyone else wants to either.

iainf72

Still not fixed.

Astana could lose license if money doesn't arrive today

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show ... rance.html

andy_wrx

I love the irony of that title
"Armstrong's team could lose licence..."

You've got to sympathise with the Kazakhs - they put money into this team for Vino, not for it to become Team America or Armstrong's team

The title should surely be,
"if the Khazaks don't pay up, they'll lose their licence as well as their team to Armstrong and Bruyneel..."

dennisn

Well, Astana is a sports team and like many teams you read about they all seem to have
money, people, and organizational problems (did I mention money?). I'm sure no team in any sport is immune to any of this. Is there behind the scenes intrigue? Sure, all the time.
It's exactly like any workplace. All kinds of things going on. Some good(mostly good you hope) and then money, people, and organizational problems come into play.

Kléber

The UCI will meet on Thursday. If so far wages have been paid until the end of May and the bank guarantee replenished, there is nothing in place apparently to ensure the payment of wages until the end of the year and to satisfy the UCI that the team is financially sound. Unless more funds appear by Thursday, the deal is that the team will be stripped of its licence and there be ineligible to race.

dennisn

Kléber wrote:

The UCI will meet on Thursday. If so far wages have been paid until the end of May and the bank guarantee replenished, there is nothing in place apparently to ensure the payment of wages until the end of the year and to satisfy the UCI that the team is financially sound. Unless more funds appear by Thursday, the deal is that the team will be stripped of its licence and there be ineligible to race.

Maybe another stupid question, but why wouldn't the government cough up the money required to keep the team going? Seems almost like small change to this "oil rich country"
that's looking to be "noticed" or whatever. It would seem to be pretty good exposure for the money. It's not like the team has a payroll like baseballs New York Yankees. Which
probably comes close to the GNP of a few small countries.

iainf72

dennisn wrote:

Maybe another stupid question, but why wouldn't the government cough up the money required to keep the team going?

A number of reasons. The Kazak government are about as broke as the state of California at the moment. Also, Astana are supposed to be a glory vehicle for the Kazak riders but at the moment "Europeans and Americans" are trying to screw them over (in their opinion, YMMV)

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Maybe another stupid question, but why wouldn't the government cough up the money required to keep the team going?

A number of reasons. The Kazak government are about as broke as the state of California at the moment. Also, Astana are supposed to be a glory vehicle for the Kazak riders but at the moment "Europeans and Americans" are trying to screw them over (in their opinion, YMMV)

I thought they were described as "an oil rich country" earlier. Or was that when I looked them up on WIKI? I thought everyone who had oil had money.

Arkibal

micron, can you clarify when Gusev was tested positive as you stated earlier?

andyp

@Arkibal - read it and weep;

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... jul26news2

dennisn

andyp wrote:

@Arkibal - read it and weep;

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... jul26news2

I like the use of the word "irregular". I must really be bad, as I was "irregular" for quite some time. This was before I learned that a bit of extra fiber in my diet might help.