Contador plays down Armstrong rivalry; TOUR DE FRANCE.TOUR de France favourite Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (born 6 December 1982 in Madrid, Spain) is a professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team and winner of the 2007 Tour de France. While he competes for the overall titles, he is considered a climbing specialist. has played down his rivalry with Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. . The debate over who is the boss of the Astana team The Astana Team (UCI Team Code: AST), is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan – including Air Astana – named after its capital. is dominating this year's Tour, with 2007 champion Contador and seven-time winner Armstrong having both put themselves in a good position. The pair are just behind current leader Rinaldo Nocentini in the general classification as the field bid adieu to the Pyrenees, but that situation is not expected to last. Armstrong claimed there was "tension" between him and Contador but the Spaniard is refusing to be drawn. "It's a subject which is starting to tire me a bit, it's too repetitive," he said. "For me there are no tensions - I am totally relaxed and focused on the competition. I don't feel any tension. "It's true that Armstrong has a media impact no other cyclist does, and these things make these things grow. "It's true that it would be better for us if there were not so many questions about this. "The Tour is a tiring race and you can't waste energy on things that don't concern the race. "None of this affects me. But my objective is to focus on the race and shut myself off from the rest." Contador is six seconds behind Nocentini and two seconds ahead of Armstrong, who is third, in the overall standings. The riders enjoyed a rest day yesterday. |
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