Contador asserts status at Astana

Astana's Alberto Contador says he considers seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong to be "just another member of the team".

Armstrong came out of retirement last year, and his status in the sport raised questions about the pecking order within the Astana team.

"We've not seen each other a huge amount since the start of the season," the 2007 Tour winner told AFP.

"We are not the same nationality and we don't speak the same language."

Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, said the pair have a limited relationship and had previously claimed Armstrong's arrival may force him to move to a rival outfit.

606: DEBATE How will Armstrong fare in Le Tour?

And Contador, who won the Tour of Spain and the Giro d'Italia in 2008, revealed contact between the two has been minimal.

"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," he said.

"Our relationship is correct and normal."

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 which starts on 4 July.