A mystery American sponsor and the Kazakh government have combined to inject US$9 million into the Team Astana cycling team.

Temirjan Dosmukhambetov, the country's minister of tourism and sports, confirmed that the state had contributed to the clearing of the team's debts and to a necessary bank guarantee to allow the team to continue competing ahead of the Tour de France.

The mystery sponsor, meanwhile, has been identified as an American company, though authorities have still refused to name it. "We found a new sponsor for the team. This is an American company working on the Kazakh market," said the vice president of the Kazakh cycling federation, Nikolai Proskurin. "I think we will overcome all difficulties in the near future."

Pat McQuaid, head of Union Cycliste International, the sport's governing body, threatened last week to withdraw the team's ProTour licence unless its debts were settled and bank guarantees were made.

The team has been riding in jerseys with the team's logos faded out in protest since the middle of the Giro d'Italia.