NOIRMOUTIER-EN-L'ILE, France -- American David Zabriskie sprinted down the homestretch to claim the first stage of the 2005 Tour de France, edging countrymate Lance Armstrong by a scant two seconds.

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Armstrong, who is vying for an unprecedented seventh consecutive title in cycling's most prestigious event, had a strong start to his final Tour, taking second during the 12-mile time trial from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile in western France.

Zabriskie, 25, held off a late-charging Armstrong to post the fastest time trial in Tour history, finishing in a time of 20 minutes, 51 seconds to own the yellow jersey as overall leader after one stage.

The 33-year old Armstrong entered this year's 92nd edition of the Tour with no race victories in 2005.

Armstrong's rival and 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich of Germany finished 12th, 68 seconds behind the leader. Ullrich had a crash during training on Friday when he hit the back of one of his pace cars and injured his neck. Even though Ullrich started a minute ahead of Armstrong, the Texan caught and passed the German in the final 5 kilometers.

Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov was third on Saturday, 53 seconds behind, and was followed by Armstrong teammate George Hincapie and Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi.

Stage 1 Results:

1. David Zabriskie, United States, CSC, 20 minutes, 51 seconds.
2. Lance Armstrong, United States, Discovery Channel, 2 seconds behind.
3. Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakhstan, T-Mobile, 53 behind.
4. George Hincapie, United States, Discovery Channel, 57.
5. Laszlo Bodrogi, Hungary, Credit Agricole, 59.
6. Floyd Landis, United States, Phonak, 1 minute, 2 seconds behind.
7. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Fassa Bortolo, same time.
8. Jens Voigt, Germany, CSC, 1:04.
9. Vladimir Karpets, Russia, Illes Balears, 1:05.
10. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Spain, Liberty Seguros, 1:06.
11. Bobby Julich, United States, CSC, 1:07.
12. Jan Ullrich, Germany, T-Mobile, 1:08.
13. Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Spain, Phonak, 1:12.
14. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Gerolsteiner, 1:13.
15. Michael Rich, Germany, Gerolsteiner, same time.
16. Jose Luis Rubiera, Spain, Discovery Channel, 1:16.
17. Yaroslav Popovych, Ukraine, Discovery Channel, 1:18.
18. Bradley McGee, Australia, Francaise des Jeux, 1:24.
19. Marc Wauters, Belgium, Rabobank, 1:25.
20. Ivan Basso, Italy, CSC, 1:26.