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Saint-Lary-Soulan - Britain's Geraint Thomas moved a step closer to winning his maiden Tour de France after pushing Sky team-mate Chris Froome down the standings on a 17th stage won by Colombia's Nairo Quintana on Wednesday.
Thomas held an overnight lead of 1:39 on compatriot Froome, but took it to 2:31 after the four-time champion crossed the finish 1:36 behind Quintana and nearly a minute off Thomas.
Ireland's Dan Martin (UAE) finished second at 28 seconds behind Quintana, with Thomas third at 47 and Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Lotto-Jumbo) in fourth at 52.
Froome's failure to stay with Thomas in the final few kilometres of the 16 km climb to the finish of the Col du Portet amid a series of attacks by rivals means the Kenyan-born Briton is in danger of finishing off the podium.
Dutch rival Tom Dumoulin, the 2017 Giro d'Italia champion, has now moved up to second place with Roglic up to fourth overall just 16secs behind Froome.
Welshman Thomas will start Thursday's 18th stage, a mainly flat 171km ride from Trie-sur-Blaise to Pau with a 1:59 lead on Sunweb team leader Dumoulin, with Froome in third.
"It's unfortunate Froomey lost time. But he's still up there in the podium (position)," said Thomas, who is taking nothing for granted yet.
"I'm feeling good, but I'm not going to get carried away. I will keep refuelling, eating and drinking as best I can and not let any complacency creep in."
Froome appeared to abdicate his crown when he tipped his hat to Thomas at the finish.
"I've won the last three Grand Tours I've done now... but I'm still going to try and fight for the podium and try and obviously keep G up there in yellow," he said.
Quintana said: "I'm happy for the win. It was a day for the pure climbers.
"It's also great for the morale of the team. It's been frustrating, and sad because things didn't work out the way we'd hoped.
"But we have to keep on fighting."
Tour organisers introduced innovation with the top 20 placed riders, much like in MotoGP, starting on a grid according to their times in the general classification.
At only 65km long - a nod to the number of the French department featuring the start and finish (65) - and with three punishing climbs, a spectacular day of racing looked to be on the menu.
But when it came to rival teams trying to loosen Sky's grip, it was the same old story.
An early breakaway sparked by Estonian Tanel Kangert (Astana) and 'King of the Mountains' Julian Alaphilippe eventually came to nothing, although the Quick-Step rider picked up 18 precious points for his polka dot jersey.
Quintana overcame two mechanical problems early in the race, when he twice had to chase back to join the peloton.
When Martin attacked at the foot of the final climb, Quintana was quickly on his wheel.
Safe in the knowledge Quintana was unlikely to claw back his overnight deficit of nearly four minutes, Sky let the Colombian go.
They only had to control Dumoulin and Lotto Jumbo rider Roglic, who launched a series of attacks in the closing kilometres that put Froome in trouble.
When Froome struggled, it gave Thomas wings.
"Obviously I didn't want him to have a bad day, like he did, but it gave me confidence knowing somebody of Froomey's stature was struggling," said Thomas.
Quintana, having benefited from the help of teammate Alejandro Valverde after he got into an earlier counter-attack, attacked solo with 6.4km remaining.
Martin battled to close the gap, but came up short as the Colombian claimed just his second Tour stage five years after winning at Semnoz in the Alps.
The final podium placings will be decided by the penultimate-stage time trial, over 31km, on Saturday.
Col de Portet, France, July 25, 2018 (AFP) -Results from the 17th stage of the Tour de France, a 65km ride from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Col de Portet on Wednesday:
1. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 65.0 km in 2hrs 21min 27sec
2. Dan Martin (IRL/EAU) at 28sec
3. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 47.
4. Primoz Roglic (SLO/LNL) 52.
5. Tom Dumoulin (NED/SUN) 52.
6. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 1:05.
7. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 1:33.
8. Chris Froome (GBR/SKY) 1:35.
9. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 1:35.
10. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 2:01.
11. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 2:20.
12. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 2:32.
13. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 2:35.
14. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 3:23.
15. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 4:00.
16. Warren Barguil (FRA/FST) 4:15.
17. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 5:10.
18. Jesper Hansen (DEN/AST) 5:10.
19. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 5:12.
20. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 5:38.
21. Antwan Tolhoek (NED/LNL) 6:00.
22. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/BAH) 6:11.
23. Pierre-Roger Latour (FRA/ALM) 6:52.
24. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 8:12.
25. Daniel Martinez (COL/EFD) 9:08.
26. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/EAU) 9:08.
27. Tejay van Garderen (USA/BMC) 9:08.
28. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 9:59.
29. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 10:50.
30. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EFD) 10:50.
31. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 10:50.
32. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 10:50.
33. Omar Fraile (ESP/AST) 11:30.
34. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 11:39.
35. Jose Herrada Lopez (ESP/COF) 12:22.
36. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/BAH) 13:25.
37. Thomas Degand (BEL/WGG) 13:25.
38. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/SKY) 13:33.
39. Jon Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 13:33.
40. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 13:33.
41. Gregor Muehlberger (AUT/BOR) 13:33.
42. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 13:33.
43. Pavel Kochetkov (RUS/KAT) 13:33.
44. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 13:33.
45. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 13:33.
46. Julien Bernard (FRA/TRE) 13:56.
47. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 14:05.
48. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE/FDJ) 14:43.
49. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 14:51.
50. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 15:07.
51. Yoann Offredo (FRA/WGG) 15:24.
52. Marco Minnaard (NED/WGG) 16:04.
53. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 16:06.
54. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 16:13.
55. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 16:16.
56. Anthony Perez (FRA/COF) 16:21.
57. Mikel Nieve (ESP/MIT) 17:53.
58. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 18:50.
59. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 19:30.
60. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 19:30.
61. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FST) 19:30.
62. Kevin Ledanois (FRA/FST) 19:30.
63. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 19:37.
64. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) 19:37.
65. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 19:37.
66. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 19:37.
67. Julien Vermote (BEL/DDT) 19:37.
68. Michael Andersen (DEN/AST) 19:37.
69. Chad Haga (USA/SUN) 19:37.
70. Rory Sutherland (AUS/EAU) 19:37.
71. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 19:37.
72. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/WGG) 19:37.
73. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 19:37.
74. Michael Schaer (SUI/BMC) 19:37.
75. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 19:37.
76. Ian Boswell (USA/KAT) 19:37.
77. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 19:37.
78. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 19:42.
79. Jack Bauer (NZL/MIT) 20:11.
80. Edward Theuns (BEL/SUN) 20:37.
81. Yves Lampaert (BEL/QST) 20:39.
82. Jerome Cousin (FRA/DEN) 20:41.
83. Anthony Turgis (FRA/COF) 20:45.
84. Tomasz Marczynski (POL/LOT) 20:55.
85. Silvan Dillier (SUI/ALM) 21:03.
86. Jay Thomson (RSA/DDT) 21:44.
87. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) 21:44.
88. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/WGG) 22:03.
89. Tom Slagter (NED/DDT) 22:12.
90. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 22:20.
91. Florian Vachon (FRA/FST) 23:06.
92. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FST) 23:06.
93. Romain Hardy (FRA/FST) 23:08.
94. Amael Moinard (FRA/FST) 23:08.
95. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FST) 23:08.
96. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 23:22.
97. Simon Gerrans (AUS/BMC) 23:28.
98. Luke Durbridge (AUS/MIT) 23:28.
99. Dion Smith (NZL/WGG) 23:28.
100. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 23:28.
101. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 23:28.
102. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 24:09.
103. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 24:31.
104. Magnus Cort Nielsen (DEN/AST) 24:36.
105. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/SUN) 24:36.
106. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 24:39.
107. Simon Clarke (AUS/EFD) 24:43.
108. Damien Gaudin (FRA/DEN) 25:22.
109. Toms Skujins (LAT/TRE) 25:25.
110. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 25:25.
111. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 25:29.
112. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) 25:32.
113. Oliviero Troia (ITA/EAU) 25:48.
114. Daniel Oss (ITA/BOR) 25:48.
115. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT) 25:48.
116. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 25:48.
117. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 25:48.
118. Fabien Grellier (FRA/DEN) 25:48.
119. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/EFD) 25:48.
120. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 25:48.
121. Matthew Hayman (AUS/MIT) 25:48.
122. Taylor Phinney (USA/EFD) 25:48.
123. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/BAH) 25:48.
124. Tom Scully (NZL/EFD) 25:48.
125. Lawson Craddock (USA/EFD) 25:48.
126. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 25:48.
127. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 25:48.
128. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 25:48.
129. Amund Grondahl Jansen (NOR/LNL) 26:01.
130. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 26:14.
131. Lukas Poestlberger (AUT/BOR) 26:22.
132. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 26:22.
133. Kristjan Koren (SLO/BAH) 26:22.
134. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 26:29.
135. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 26:29.
136. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 26:39.
137. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/EAU) 27:18.
138. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/EAU) 27:23.
139. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 27:36.
140. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 27:52.
141. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG/QST) 28:01.
142. Timothy Dupont (BEL/WGG) 28:26.
143. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/FDJ) 28:30.
144. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/LOT) 28:59.
145. Arnaud Demare (FRA/FDJ) 29:16.
146. Michael Hepburn (AUS/MIT) 31:30.
147. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) -- withdrawn
