Omar Fraile wins stage 14 while Froome and Thomas finish together

Although Froome is Sky’s team leader, Thomas said: “I hope to keep the jersey as long as possible”.

Sky riders have been targeted by boos and jeers on the Tour this year and defending champion Chris Froome was slapped on the shoulder by a fan during a stage this week.

Thomas leads four-time champion Froome by 1 minute, 39 seconds. Froome, under suspicion of doping because of high salbutamol levels, was cleared of doping by the International Cycling Union in a decision that will allow him to pursue a record-tying fifth Tour de France.

“(Dumoulin) can really pace himself”, Thomas said. Hats off to him. “I have raced here before and I knew the course to perfection”.

France’s Julian Alaphilippe, holder of the polka dot jersey, was the fastest in the climb but he made his move slightly too late and finished six seconds behind, just ahead of Stuyven. Since then he has battled back attacks from Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Romain Bardet (AG2R-LaMondiale), among others.

It was a day to remember for Fraile as he produced a stunning finish to claim a memorable stage win, and give Astana their first success of this year’s race.

In 2016 it was revealed that Team Sky helped Bradley Wiggins obtain a Therapeutic Use Exemption for the corticosteroid triamcinolone on the eve of the 2012 Tour de France, which he won. The Basque rider also won the mountains classification in the Spanish Vuelta in 2015 and 2016.

Saturday’s 188-kilometer stage ran from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Mende, while Sunday’s ride from Millau to Carcassone is another mountainous ride tailor-made for the specialist climbers like Alaphilippe and Saturday’s stage-winner Fraile.

Nibali came down hard, broke a bone in his back and, despite finishing the stage only 13secs behind Thomas, abandoned late on Thursday evening.

“Many have traveled many miles to see us”, he said.

“It depends on the situation and what’s going on in the race” he said.

Eurosport expert Juan Antonio Flecha takes on cycling’s most iconic climb: the Alpe d’Huez. A group of 32 riders took off, gaining an advantage of nearly 10 minutes on the peloton.

The trio snuck off the front of the remnants of a 29-man breakaway on the descent off the Pic de Nore as crosswinds splintered the group, and neither Izagirre nor Mollema could compete with Nielsen’s sprinting skills as the Dane took a stage win on his debut Tour.

– I cannot complain, as I rode the final climb the best I could.

When he overtook the Belgian with two kilometres to race, Fraile did not look back.

Associated Press writers Ciaran Fahey and Joseph Wilson contributed.