Froome ready to help Thomas win

Defending champion Chris Froome is ready to sacrifice a record-equalling fifth Tour de France victory if it helps Sky teammate Geraint Thomas claim his maiden yellow jersey.

Four-time champion Froome can pull level with the likes of former five-time winners Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain if he triumphs on the Champs Elysees on Sunday.

The feat would also see the Kenyan-born Briton, who won the 2017 Tour of Spain and this year’s Giro d’Italia, become the first rider since deceased Italian Marco Pantani, in 1998, to claim a Giro-Tour double in the same calendar year.

But Froome, 1min 39sec behind Thomas in the overall standings going into three consecutive days in the Pyrenees, said he would be happy to forgo all the glory if it meant Thomas won the race for Sky.

“As long as there is a Team Sky rider on the top step of the podium in Paris, I’m happy,” Froome said in Carcassonne.

Asked if he would sacrifice his hopes of a fifth Tour crown to help Thomas, Froome replied: “Yes.”

Thomas has yet to podium on a three-week Grand Tour and, despite winning the Criterium du Dauphiné last month, crashed out of both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in 2017.

Italian Gianni Moscon, a teammate of Froome’s, was thrown off the race on Sunday after an altercation with a fellow rider, officials said.

Race officials took the decision after Moscon was involved in a fracas with a rider from the Fortuneo team shortly after the stage start in Millau.