Briton Chris Froome has cemented his status as one of the greatest Tour de France riders, securing his third title after a three-week rocky ride.
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In 2012, Froome finished third behind fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins and German Tony Martin, and his time trial performances on the Tour – second and first – suggest he could be a contender on Aug.10.
He showed a new side to his game in the Tour, attacking on the descent to Bagneres-de-Luchon to take yellow on stage eight, then capitalising on crosswinds on stage 11 to Montpellier before his famous jog up Mont Ventoux three days later.
German Greipel, also the victor in Paris 12 months ago, pipped the late-charging world champion Peter Sagan to the line in the traditional sprint on the Champs-Elysees after racing clear of Norway’s Alexander Kristoff on the run-in.
The 2016 Tour de France victor Chris Froome remembered this month’s tragedy after his latest triumph. After facing constant accusations during last year’s race – including a spectator yelling ‘doper!’ and hurling a cup of urine at him – Froome released some of his training data at the end of last year.
“I hope I can be back next year to fight for it again”.
Chris Froome (Team Sky) has been confirmed for the 2016 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic road race on Sunday, July 31.
He ended up beating Romain Bardet of France by four minutes and five seconds with Colombia’s Nairo Quintana in third and Britain’s Adam Yates fourth.
Overall, it has left him near the rear of the pack, nearly five hours down on Chris Froome – a whole 160 kilometres or so.
“I think as this race has gone on people have got to me know me a little bit better, know my character a little bit better”.
Froome completed a near-perfect three weeks of racing by arriving safely into Paris to cross the finish line arm-in-arm with his Team Sky team-mates – who for the second year running were donning special Rapha jerseys with a generous splash of yellow for the occasion.
Czech Roman Kreuziger, who started the day in 12th place overall 9:45 off the pace, was part of the day’s breakaway that also featured his Tinkoff team mate Peter Sagan, the world champion voted the most aggressive rider of the race, as well as 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali among others.
The most freaky sight of the whole Tour – Froome jogging towards the finish line on Stage 12 after Richie Porte crashed into a motorbike and brought Froome and Bauke Mollema down with him.
Froome deliberately delayed hitting top form in the Tour until its final week to ensure he would maintain peak condition ahead of next month’s Olympic road race time-trial. The British outfit has been such a dominant force at this Tour de France that no one else ever mounted a serious challenge.
There was one more British stage victor, as Steve Cummings produced a trademark success on stage seven into Lac de Payolle.
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World champion Sagan continued his domination of the points classification, which rewards consistently high finishes on each stage.
