GERADMER, France -- Pieter Weening of the Netherlands won the eighth stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish, while six-time defending champion Lance Armstrong held on to the overall lead.

Weening, a 24-year-old rookie, and Andreas Kloden of Germany were both engaged in a two-man sprint to the finish. However, Weening showed great determination and his lunge forward before the line proved to be the difference as the Dutch rider finished in a time of 5.03.54 with Kloeden, last year's Tour runner-up, taking second.

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Alejandro Valverde of Spain finished third.

Meanwhile, Armstrong won his fifth consecutive yellow jersey by staying with the pack and increased his lead by five seconds -- a minute overall -- over German Jens Voigy of Team CSC. However, that can not be said for the rest of his teammates.

Saturday's stage began in Pforzheim, Germany, but then headed back into France and ended in Gerardmer. Much of the 143.8-mile trek took place in the Vosges Mountains -- a relatively easy climb -- compared to those to come next week in the Alps.

Armstrong's Discovery Channel teammate and fellow American George Hincapie, though, struggled on the terrain. Despite finishing in 55th place on Friday, Hincapie was just 55 seconds behind Armstrong coming into Saturday's stage.

On this day, though, Hincapie plummeted to eighth place overall after eight stages by failing to keep the pace against Armstrong's rival Jan Ullrich of the T-Mobile Team, finishing 48th.

There were minor changes in the top five overall spots. Germany's Jens Voight jumped ahead of Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan by two seconds to trail Armstrong. American Bobby Julich trails the leader by one minute and two seconds, while Ivan Basso of Italy moved up from ninth place overall to fifth place overall with a strong effort.

Ullrich, along with Vinokourov and Kloeden, made some noise on Saturday. The three T-Mobile riders made up a lot of ground and made life miserable for the Discovery Channel Team.

The end result was having Ullrich, who was in 13th place overall after Friday, finding himself in sixth place a minute and thirty-six seconds behind Armstrong.

Sunday's stage nine will not only test the stamina of many riders, but it will surely test their resolve. It marks the first climbing stage of the Tour. Stage nine from Gerardmer to Mulhouse. It is over 106 miles with six climbs in the Vosges, including Grand Ballon & Ballon d'Alsace.

Stage 8 Ranking:

1 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 5.03.54 (28.6 mph)
2 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne +0.27
4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo
5 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
6 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
8 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole
9 Chris Horner (USA) Saunier Duval-Prodir
10 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team

General Classification:

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 28.06.17
2 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC + 1.00
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team + 1.02
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC + 1.07
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC + 1.26
6 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team + 1.36
7 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
8 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile Team
10 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems