Germany’s Jan Ullrich ended a five-year famine to win his first stage on the Tour de France today after blasting his way over the 47-km time trial between Gaillac and here. Lance Armstrong, who finished in second place, retained the race leader’s yellow jersey by a whisker. Ullrich rocketed over the baking hot course in a time of 58 min 32 sec, with Armstrong, who was last to go from the 167-strong field, crossing the finish with a deficit of 1 min 35 sec. Ullrich now sits in second place overall at 34 sec. Telekom rider Alexandre Vinokourov, who started the day in second place 21 sec behind Armstrong came in third place, 51 sec behind Ullrich and now sits in third place at over two minutes behind Armstrong.
