Tour de France stage 18 as it happened: Arnaud Demare wins stage 18 as Geraint Thomas retains yellow jersey
Follow all the latest from the 171km stage from Trie-Sur-Baïse to Pau as Geraint Thomas looks to tighten his grip on the yellow jersey
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Your support makes all the difference.Geraint Thomas is closing in on his maiden grand tour and yellow jersey, now only three competitive stages away from sealing the deal, and he now has the added bonus of Chris Froome's commitment to help get over the line.
However he still has Tom Dumoulin lurking at 1min 59sec off the pace and the Dutch rider is almost certain to gain some time during Saturday's time trial, which is firmly his domain.
While Thomas will be looking to keep rivals at bay, Peter Sagan will be chasing the stage win in a sprint in Pau, although he may just be happy to finish after his 'hard crash' yesterday.
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Arnaud Demare wins stage 18!
His lead out train moved out the way, he hit the front and from there he never let go.
Laporte was pipped on the line, with Kristoff third and Sagan further back, perhaps still showing the effects of his crash. Thomas retains yellow, with no change at the top of the standings.
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