Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has hit out at Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong.
Tour winner criticises Astana team-mate
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has hit out at Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong after the two endured a frosty relationship throughout the three-week race.
Contador claimed his second Tour de France title and was supported by returning American Armstrong, but having two huge personalities in the same team caused problems.
The Spaniard, 26, returned to Madrid on Monday after his victory and revealed the unsettled atmosphere behind the scenes in the Astana camp.
Contador said that the relationship between himself and seven-time champion Armstrong was so bad that the race, in comparison, was a lot easier than spending down team with his team-mate.
"My relationship with Lance Armstrong is zero," Contador told a news conference in Madrid.
No admiration
"He is a great rider and has completed a great race but it is another thing on a personal level, where I have never had great admiration for him and I never will.
"On this Tour, the days in the hotel were harder than those on the road.
"The situation was tense and delicate because the relationship between myself and Lance extended to the rest of the staff.
"The two riders who had most weight on the team did not have an easy relationship and that puts the rest of the technical staff and the riders in an uncomfortable position."
After a successful return to the race following his retirement, third-placed Armstrong will return next year in the colours of his own team he will set up for the new season.
Contador will also be in new colours next year, as he was clearly not happy with Astana for bringing in another big name in Armstrong.
"We'll have to see what happens," Contador said of his future. "I don't know where I will go but it will clearly be with a team that is 100 percent behind me."
