KZBlog

But I was right! The UCI gave Kazakhstan a license a while back, hence the reason that Contador was not able to break his contract with Team Astana. However, there was the question of registration still on the table. The UCI wanted a bank guarantee of the $22 million that Samruk-Kazyna was offering up and set a deadline of Wednesday. The Kazakh Cycling Federation wasn’t sure they could get the necessary papers in time, but they did. Team Astana is good to go for the 2010 season.

Interestingly, probably out of frustration, Denis Proskurin, the deputy head of the Kazakh Cycling Federation accused Johann Bruyneel of doing everything he could to get Team Astana disqualified while he was coach of the team! Proskurin went so far as to say that Bruyneel had actually been heard saying in no uncertain terms that his goal was to destroy Astana’s team. The charges might be easier to believe if he hadn’t gone to say taht he felt UCI wanted to keep the Tour de France a European competition and was deliberately trying to keep Asian teams out. That sounds a little bit like a persecution complex. But again, perhaps he can be forgiven. He was under a bit of stress.

Bruyneel answered the charges in a YouTube video, saying that they were false and that he is all for a “top team” like Astana: