Froome abdicates Tour of the crown to his teammate Sky Thomas

Saint-Lary-Soulan – King of the Tour de France Chris Froome has almost completed his attempt for a fifth record win on Wednesday, giving full support to Sky's teammate and leader Geraint Thomas

Froome, 32, was hoping to join an elite club of five-time winner and become the first cyclist since Marco Pantani, in 1998, to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same

But Froome's bid to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on the list of five winners may have to wait another year.

From the 17th stage with a deficit of 1min 39sec to Thomas, the Kenyan-born Briton, showed rare signs of weakness before ending nearly a minute behind his Welsh teammate at the last finish in Saint-Lary-Soulan, won by Colombian rival Nairo Quintana of Movistar.

Froome dropped to third place overall and now follows Dutchman To Dumoulin (Sunweb) by 32secs and Thomas by 2:31, before a final mountain leg on Friday, which ends the descent, and ahead – last time trial against Saturday.

"It was a very intense day but I got Froome to the finish after struggling to keep pace with Thomas when the Slovenian Primoz Roglic launched one of the many attacks in the last few kilometers

"G & # 39; (Geraint) ran an unbelievable race and he deserves Froome had also made an offer to claim his fourth Grand Tour victory after adding this year's Spain Tour and Giro d'Italy to "[19659003] He added: "I have won the last three Grand Tours that I have done now, so it has been hard for me, but I have done it. I will still try to fight for the podium and try to keep the & # 39; G & # 39; in yellow. "

Thomas, who has won stages in the Alps to highlight his yellow jersey qualities – and above all give himself a 1:39 advantage over Team Froome – is now badured of Froome's support during next steps.

"He looks very strong then I imagine that he will be able to finish it," said Froome. "We just have to try to cure him now, these next few days. "

" We have a two-minute lead, "said Dave Brailsford, Team Sky leader.

" The probability of us I think winning this race is more about Geraint, but that's not the case. not to say that everything is finished.

"Right now, overall, we will be looking at the next mountain stage, try to keep the jersey then"

Brailsford, however, was quick to credit Froome for his support of Thomas all over the world.

"If" G "continues to win the race, he will be a legend," says Brailsford

"But if Froomey helps him, as he sacrificed today, he will be a Titan. One of the greatest of all time, without even winning the race. "

The 18th stage of Thursday is a mostly flat race from Trie-sur-Baise to Pau which should favor the few real sprinters still in the race. [19659002FridayThomasandFroomePrayerarewhichtheynegotiatewiththefun19thstandardofcategorizedixascensionswhichofficencetoLourdesetsdefinedtoLaruns

Asked about the tips that he could give Thomas, Froome laughed: "I do not think he needs everything. I think he's fine. "