Lance Armstrong's cash-strapped Astana team are not yet out of the financial woods, team manager Johan Bruyneel told reporters in Rome.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) set Sunday as a deadline for the Kazakh-based team to meet its financial requirements after the riders complained their salaries were not being paid.

The UCI has threatened to withdraw Astana's Pro-Tour licence.

"The financial woes that left salaries unpaid are not completely resolved yet," Bruyneel said in a team statement.

"I hope that the team sponsors will meet the deadline for the bank guarantee and the payments. Moreover, the UCI now wants more guarantees about the team for the rest of the year."

But he suggested Astana would meet the UCI's requirements, saying he was hopeful they would take part in upcoming races, including July's Tour de France.

Seven-times Tour winner Armstrong and all but one of his team-mates blanked out the sponsors' names on their shirts from the seventh stage of the Giro in protest at the money trouble.

Armstrong said he enjoyed his first Giro after finishing a creditable 12th having recovered from a broken collarbone just in time to take part, but he was not totally happy about safety standards.

"Despite some dangerous stages, it was a great race," said the American who is considering taking over his struggling team.

Spaniard Pedro Horrillo Munoz was badly hurt after falling down a ravine in the eighth stage and the riders turned the following day's racing in Milan into a farce by cruising for most of it in protest at the safety of the course.

Armstrong was also satisfied with his showing in his first big race returning from retirement after over three years out and expressed optimism for July, when he will bid for his eighth Tour title.

"In the second half of the race I showed that I was certainly getting better and I think we can take that away from here," said the Texan, who stopped speaking to reporters at the three-week race after being accused of being the ringleader of the Milan protest.