Tour de France officials have moved to defuse a spat between the rivals for the sprint competition, after Jose Joaquin Rojas accused current incumbent Mark Cavendish of holding on to his team car on climbs.
"There is no problem with Cavendish at all, none at all," said race director Jean Francois Pescheux. "Cavendish is a leader and he is under surveillance in the race – like all the team leaders are ... Rojas is always looking for excuses to win."
Pescheux was responding to accusations by Rojas, reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, that Cavendish was being towed up mountains as the Tour hit the Pyrenees.
"Phil [Gilbert] and I complained about Cavendish,” Rojas said. "Cavendish keeps hanging on to cars on the climbs."
However, Omega Pharma-Lotto manager Herman Frison contradicted Rojas's claim, saying: "Philippe has not complained. He just had a little chat with Pescheux. The conversation was not about Cavendish."
At last year's Giro d'Italia Movistar's Fran Ventoso made a similar accusation against the HTC-Highroad sprinter.
Cavendish said at the time: "If I stop to pee, if I crash and change a wheel, I always have a race official – as well as an ice-cream truck and a marching band – all watching me," Cavendish said at the time.
"It's always the same. If I'm dropped but I finish inside the time limit, it means I cheat. If I can cheat, then I'm David Copperfield."
Cavendish leads Movistar's Rojas by 15 points in this year's green jersey competition, who in turn is a further 11 points ahead of Omega Pharma's Gilbert.
Follow ITV Cycling on Twitter