Spain's Alberto Contador on Friday said that he considers Astana team-mate and Tour de France rival Lance Armstrong as "just another member of the team".
Armstrong, 37, has returned to the sport after a three-and-a-half-year absence in a bid to win an eighth Tour de France title this summer, but 2007 champion Contador said relations between the two men were cordial.
"We've not seen each other a huge amount since the start of the season," said the 26-year-old, who was speaking ahead of the Criterium Dauphine Libere, which starts here on Sunday.
"Two or three days in California, two or three days in Tenerife and one day at the Tour of Castilla and Leon. It's not much, especially as we are not the same nationality and we don't speak the same language.
"Our relationship is correct and normal."
Asked about Astana's reported financial problems, Contador said: "That doesn't affect me. My only objective is to prepare myself for the Tour de France. I have good support and a good team."
Contador has not competed since the Tour of the Basque Country in mid-April, taking time out instead to build up his preparations for the Tour de France.