Bradley Wiggins has admitted that Chris Froome would be a major rival on the Tour de France if the fellow Brit raced for a different team.
Both men ride for Team Sky, which means that Wiggins will always have the first say over Froome as he is the team's number one chance of winning the race.
Wiggins currently leads the Tour and holds the yellow jersey with a lead of 2 minutes 5 seconds over teammate Froome, with main rivals Vincenzo Nibali and Cadel Evans at 2min 23s and 3min 19s adrift respectively.
Wiggins said of himself and Froome: "We're first and second on GC (the general classification). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to [work out that Froome is my main rival].
"He's my teammate. We'll keep it like that."
Froome had been quoted as saying in the French press that he would win the Tour if he were on a different team.
However, the 27-year-old responded to the quotes today by saying: "There were a lot of things taken out of context there. There's no bad blood in the team. We're still here with the same goal."
Tomorrow is the second rest day of the Tour before a gruelling couple of days in the Pyrenees, which could be crucial if Wiggins is to retain his lead.
Pascal Lemesre
