 Armstrong is making his return after a broken collarbone
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Lance Armstrong has hit out at the owners of his Astana team, who have been left staff unpaid just days before the start of the Giro d'Italia.
The seven-time Tour de France winner is racing unpaid for the Kazakh-backed team in his first year back after coming out of retirement.
"My situation is different as I don't take a salary but there are a lot of people who have families," he said.
"When they sign a contract, they expect to be paid."
Astana receives most of its financial support from a Kazakh state holding company but the country has struggled in the economic crisis, and the national airline has already pulled out of sponsorship.
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606: DEBATE
LeSangRouge
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"There's not a lot of clarity about what is going to happen," Armstrong said ahead of the Giro's start on 9 May.
"Maybe the situation gets resolved and the guys start getting their dough. Otherwise I think the license ought to be transferred to [team director] Johan Bruyneel and we try and start a team in the middle of the season."
International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said he was aware of the situation and in contact with the relevant parties and hinted that drastic action could be used in a worst-case scenario.
"I don't want to talk about possibilities," he said.
"Obviously if the team folds in the middle of the year certain things need to happen."
Armstrong, a cancer survivor, also said he would like to have another go at riding in the Tour de France to promote his Livestrong Foundation, should he be able to secure backing.
"I don't have any concrete answers but I suspect we can find some funding that would get us from June to the end of the year," he said.
"It could be a combination of people that have a shared interest in Livestrong and want to see Livestrong promoted around the world and believe in what we're doing.
"If someone commits to fund a team for half a year, that's $7 or $8m," he said.
"For a full season it's $14 to $20m. That's a serious decision and can't be made in 20 to 30 days."
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