TARBES, France — Lance Armstrong carried on playing mind games with his younger rival and teammate Alberto Contador on Sunday, hinting that he might be the strongest rider this year on the Tour and admitting for the first time that some tension exists on the Astana team.

With the race's toughest tests still to come, the 37-year old Texan has decided to put the pressure on the Spaniard's shoulders and to show he is still in control despite trailing Contador by a fistful of seconds overall.

After Sunday's ninth stage out of the Pyrenees mountains, the Texan is third — a solid result for a man coming back to competition after nearly four years in retirement. But the seven-time Tour champion wants more and has settled an appointment with second-placed Contador in the Alps.

"There's not going to be a lot of change until Verbier," Armstrong said, referring to stage 15, a grueling 128.9-mile trek between Pontarlier and Verbier, Switzerland. "We'll have more moments there when we'll see who's truly the strongest."

Despite losing 21 seconds to Contador at the first hilltop finish Friday in the Andorran ski resort of Arcalis, Armstrong seems convinced he can beat his Astana teammate in his quest for an 8th Tour de France triumph. Armstrong, who has meticulously previewed all the Alpine stages, even stated that he decided to let Contador go to favor his team interests when the Spaniard made his dazzling move in Arcalis.