REVEL, France -- Six-time champ Lance Armstrong claimed his 80th career yellow jersey today as the overall leader of the Tour de France. It's the second-most leader's jerseys in the race's history; Eddy Merckx holds the record of 111.

Spain's Marco's Serrano won the 105-mile 18th stage.

Serrano, a member of the Liberty Seguros team, completed the 117-mile ride from Albi to Mende in 4:37:36. He finished 27 seconds ahead of Frenchman Cedric Vasseur, who sprinted to the finish line just ahead of Axel Merckx of Belgium. Merckx, the son of five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx, was given the same time as Vasseur.

Serrano began to pull away from Vasseur and Merckx on the day's final climb and was then able to coast downhill to his first-ever stage victory.

Armstrong finished 11 minutes and 18 seconds behind Serrano, but the Texan's main rivals came in at the same time.

Armstrong maintains a 2 minute, 46 second lead over Italy's Ivan Basso with three stages left in cycling's premiere race.

Denmark's Michael Rasmussen is still in third place overall, but dropped 37 seconds and is now three minutes and 46 seconds behind Armstrong. Germany's Jan Ullrich is in fourth place, five minutes and 58 seconds behind.

Friday's 19th stage is a 95-mile trek from Issoire to Le Puy-en-Velay.