Jul 14, 2009, 11:15 GMT
Limoges, France - Following a rest day, the 10th stage of the 2009 Tour de France got underway Tuesday in the French city of Limoges as speculation continued over the rivalry between Astana teammates Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador.
The 194.5km course includes three modest climbs and is expected to end in a mass sprint to the finish line in Issoudun, with Mark Cavendish of Britain favoured to lift his third stage win of this year's Tour.
Tuesday's race is complicated by a controversy over the decision by organizers to ban the use of radio communication between riders and their team managers for this stage and Friday's.
The move makes team tactics more unpredictable but has also led to safety concerns.
Fourteen of the 20 teams racing in the Tour have sent a letter to the sports governing body the UCI and to Tour director Christian Proudhomme protesting the radio ban.
'Suddenly we are going to go back to a situation where directors will have to ride up into the peloton to give orders to riders - that is not a good thing,' Armstrong said.
But there was other controversy swirling around the Tour de France. With the decisive stages in the Alps still in the distance, speculation continued over what is turning into a sports soap opera involving the rivalry between seven-time Tour winner Armstrong and Contador, who won the title in 2007.
Only two seconds separate the two riders in the overall standings, with the 37-year-old Armstrong in third place, 8 seconds behind the leader, Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy, and Contador in second place 2 seconds ahead of Armstrong.
In a Monday press conference, Contador indirectly blamed Astana manager Johan Bruyneel for creating the tension, saying: 'If my situation within the team were clear, there would not be any controversy over my relationship with Lance.'
Bruyneel accorded the team leader's '1' jersey to the 26-year-old Spaniard but has repeatedly refused to declare him the undisputed leader of the team.
Tuesday's edition of the daily L'Equipe cited an anonymous Spanish rider from a rival team saying that Contador had told him that Armstrong was waging a 'war of nerves' with him.
But Contador told journalists that he was relaxed. 'On a sports level, this doesn't affect me at all,' he said.
Armstrong admitted that 'there is a little tension in the evening at dinner.'
'Alberto is very strong and very ambitious,' the American said. 'If he wins, he wins. Me, I'll be second, third or fifth. But I'm not looking to be third in Paris.'
The Tour de France ends in the French capital on July 26.
Your Talkback on this Story