Arnaud Demare wins Stage 18, Geraint Thomas retains yellow jersey

Geraint Thomas has maintained his lead in the Tour de France after Arnaud Demare took stage 18 in a sprint finish.

The Welshman went into the day holding an advantage of one minute and 59 seconds, and that has remained the case as the field arrived together in Pau.

The closing stages were fiercely-fought, with several riders trying to take their opportunity to get into position heading into the final corner.

However, it was Demare's charge which proved pivotal, with the Frenchman getting ahead of Christophe Laporte to get over the line in first place.

Thomas and Team Sky teammate Chris Froome finished in 31st and 33rd place respectively, while nearest challenger Tom Dumoulin came home in 27th position.