Lance Armstrong and all but one of his Astana team mates protested at unpaid salaries by blanking out the sponsor’s name on their shirts for Friday’s seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia.
Team members were not paid salaries last month and the International Cycling Union (UCI) has said Astana’s Pro-Tour licence could be withdrawn if the problem continues.
“We don’t want to pretend that everything is okay. It’s not okay. The riders only received two months of salary in 2009. I hope the shirt change will provoke an effect,†team manager Johan Bruyneel told reporters.
“We will race with these (blanked-out) shirts until everything is fixed.â€Â … Details