Tour de France:Tour de France favourite Alberto Contador has played down his rivalry with Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong, insisting he is shutting himself off from a saga he believes has been hyped up by the media.
The debate over who is the boss of the Astana team is dominating this year's Tour, with 2007 champion Contador and seven-time winner Armstrong having both put themselves in a good position heading into the last two weeks.
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 on Sunday there was "tension" between him and Contador but the Spaniard is refusing to get drawn into the matter, preferring instead to concentrate on his own performance.
"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."
Contador added: "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. It's true that the situation could be simpler, and I could focus exclusively on my pedalling. 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 Spaniard showed on Friday, on the stage-ending climb up Arcalis in Andorra when he blitzed his maillot-jaune rivals with a late surge to the finish, that he is the man to beat this year.
Armstrong, the Tour winner every year between 1999 and 2005, is not used to playing second fiddle and will surely have a huge role to play in the final fortnight.
The American told French television show Stade 2: "The honest truth is that there's a little tension at the dinner table.
"But, for me, Alberto is very strong, very ambitious and I understand that. I've won this race seven times and I understand he wants to win it a second time.
"If he wins, he wins. I'll be second, third or fifth, that's okay.
"I would like to win. If he proves to be the best rider in the race, there's nothing I can do."
Contador believes the pair's rivalry is being blown out of all proportion.
"The situation of the team is normal, like for any other rider in any other team on the race," he added. "We eat together at the table and are together on the bus. Often the tension seems higher from the outside than it really is."