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Armstrong retains Tour lead

CAP'DECOUVERTE, France, July 18 (UPI) -- Lance Armstrong retained the yellow jersey after Stage 12 of the Tour de France on Friday, but his major rival made up some ground.

In the individual time trial, Jan Ullrich of Germany, who won the 1997 race and twice was runner-up to the American, finished in 58:32. Armstrong lost the 29-mile stage from Gaillac to Ullrich by 96 seconds and was visibly exhausted after crossing the finish line.

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Since winning his first Tour in 1999, Armstrong, 31, has won six of eight individual time trials, but lost the last two.

Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, winner of Stage 9, finished two minutes, six seconds behind in third place and also fell a position to third in the overall standings, 51 seconds behind Armstrong.

Armstrong holds a 34-second advantage over Ullrich heading into the grueling stages this weekend in the Pyrenees, where Ullrich is known to accelerate.

Tyler Hamilton of the U.S., still competing with a broken collarbone, was fifth in the stage and trails Armstrong by 2:59.

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