Tour de France: Geraint Thomas praises 'super' fans

Geraint Thomas won the road race gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Geraint Thomas praised roadside fans after another successful day for Team Sky on Stage 18 of the Tour de France.

The Welshman had previously criticised a "soccer hooligan" element after race leader Chris Froome was abused.

But after helping Froome sustain his lead on Thursday, the Olympic gold medallist was in a more relaxed mood.

"The fans on the roadside have been super," said Thomas, who remains in fourth place in the general classification.

"From our point of view it's been great - so many Welsh flags and British flags.

"There were even quite a lot of "allez Froomy" from the French.

"It's been great, I haven't got a bad word to say about them, really."

Thomas' comments came on the day the sport's governing body and Tour de France organisers asked fans to "respect the yellow jersey" in the Alps.

British rider Froome claimed he had urine thrown at him during stage 14 on Saturday following media accusations of doping.

Teams Sky's Richie Porte said he had been punched during stage 10.

General classification after stage 18

1. Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky 74hrs 13mins 31secs

2. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Movistar +3mins 10secs

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar +4mins 9secs

4. Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky +6mins 34secs

5. Alberto Contador (Spain) Tinkoff - Saxo +6mins 40secs

6. Robert Gesink (Netherlands) LottoNL +7mins 39secs

7. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Astana +8mins 4secs

8. Mathias Frank (Switzerland) IAM Cycling +8mins 47secs

9. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Trek +12mins 6secs

10. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R +12mins 52secs