Cycling And Economic Crises

Looks like the problems affecting the Kazakh sponsored Astana cycling team have (sort of) made their way onto Bloomberg. No wonder the team hasn't been paid in a while: companies, some of which are partly owned by the government, are defaulting on their bond (principal and interest) payments.

The team is riding in the Giro D'Italia with the sponsor's logos faded out. The only ones that can be seen properly are the ones that have paid in full: Nike, Trek and maybe another one.

I hope they get some financing in place by the time the Tour De France rolls around. The team is looking decent now, and will be much fitter and motivated in July.