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Hincapie gets maiden Tour victory

George Hincapie outsprinted Oscar Pereiro to win his first Tour de France stage as team captain Lance Armstrong tightened his grip on the race lead.

The American, one of Armstrong's top 'domestiques', sat at the back of a 14-man break on a brutal day of climbs.

But when it became clear that Armstrong would not catch him, he was given the all-clear to pursue a stage 15 victory.

Armstrong finished strongly with Ivan Basso, who stole second place overall from battling Dane Mickael Rasmussen.

The biggest crowds of this year's race were baying for a Spanish victory in the Pyrenees.

It seems to me that Discovery are so strong at the moment they can catapult anyone they want into a stage win
From YK

And Pereiro came closest to providing it when he struck for home on the last 'hors category' climb of a day that also included four category one ascents.

The Spaniard shook off all fellow escapees except for the stubborn Hincapie, who sat on his wheel to the top before forging past 200m from the line.

Their memorable duel was matched by fascinating battles further down the Pla-d'Adet.

In-form Italian Basso, who had launched a stinging attack on the previous mountain, set a faster pace than anyone bar Armstrong, who matched him pedal for pedal.

They finished the 220km stage five minutes behind Hincapie and Pereiro.

Hincapie is my biggest guy, my biggest friend on the team
Lance Armstrong

As the pair reeled in fatigued stragglers from the break - which splintered from the peloton after just 27km - they opened up time on all other rivals, including Jan Ullrich, who lost more than a minute.

Behind the German, Rasmussen looked in danger of slipping out of the top three on the general classification.

He lost too much time to Basso, but weathered Ullrich's attack as other

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