He linked arms with his Team Sky teammates as he crossed the finish line in Champs-Elysees, as his four-minute overall lead had made him unbeatable and the 113km final stage from Chantilly a pure procession.
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Froome surprised rivals with a downhill attack to claim the race leaders yellow jersey in the second Pyrenean stage.
Tour de France victor Chris Froome of Britain cycles past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday.
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. “These new shoes also accompanied Froome in his triumphant ride here at the Tour de France”.
The Kenyan-born British rider finished safely at the back of the main pack in the final stage, arm-in-arm with his teammates during the mostly ceremonial leg ending on the Champs-Elysees.
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.
Then it was time for the traditional flute of champagne.
Because of the time loss, Froome initially dropped to sixth overall before race officials allowed him to keep the yellow jersey, ruling that he had lost his bike in unfair circumstances. Chris running up the Ventoux in the yellow jersey, without a bike, wasn’t something we had in mind.
Speaking alongside Brailsford and team-mate Geraint Thomas, Froome said: “I’ve had to put up with these two laughing at me for the last two weeks”.
Froome finished the race with a margin of victory of four minutes and five seconds ahead of AG2R La Mondiale’s Romain Bardet, only the third Frenchman in 20 years to finish second as the race awaits its first home victor since Hinault in 1985.
Nairo Quintana finishes 4min 21sec down in third, while Adam Yates ends a breakthrough race 4min 42sec adrift in fourth.
The 26-year-old Slovak, who won his first “Monument” one day classic race in April at the Tour of Flanders, is getting stronger all the time.
American Lance Armstrong won seven titles in succession from 1999 but was erased from the winners’ list after admitting to doping.
Greipel edged Peter Sagan of Slovakia, with Alexander Kristoff of Norway crossing third.
“I tried, it was incredible as I’d never won a stage like that”, said Froome. Meintjes has a background in Belgian racing – a spell at the UC Seraing and the Lotto-Belisol under-23 team – and picked up his first stage race win previous year.
It was a hard stage for the Etixx-Quick Step team. “I’ve done absolutely everything I can to win this race, on flats, descents, time trials, I’ve done everything I can”.
Kittel slammed a wheel to the ground in frustration as he waited for the change.
It was a great Tour for the British as a whole, with Mark Cavendish winning 4 stages, more than anyone else, as he re-established himself as the world’s best sprinter after 3 years of being shoved into the shadows by burly German pair Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel.
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