He was down again in Stage 19, finishing the last ten kilometres on the bike of teammate Geraint Thomas, but there was to be no denying Froome, who has now won three of the last four Tours to join greats like Greg Lemond, Louison Bobet and Philippe Thys with three Tour victories.
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Germany’s Andre Greipel won the 21st and last stage, a 113-km ride from Chantilly ending on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Britain’s Froome arrived in Spain previous year hoping to become the first man to win the Tour de France/Vuelta double since Bernard Hinault but pulled out after an 11th-stage crash.
American Lance Armstrong won seven titles in succession from 1999 but was erased from the winners’ list after admitting to doping.
A day after crashing in similar conditions, Froome remained upright on the long, wet descent off the Col de Joux Plane alongside his rivals, and went into Sunday’s largely processional stage into Paris leading by four minutes and five seconds from Frenchman Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale. Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) was fourth behind Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Britain’s first victor of the white jersey for best young rider.
Mark Cavendish did not make it to Paris this year, abandoning the race to focus on his attempts to win an Olympic medal on the track in Rio next month.
Movistar rider Quintana was expected to be Froome’s main challenger but the Colombian’s attacks in the mountains failed to materialise and he said he had been “suffering with allergies” during the race.
Still the Tour is the Tour and Froome’s victory didn’t come without drama.
“The podium would have been nice but this is the Tour de France”. The team was flawless, it was the best team performance we’ve put together. There’s nothing like the most hard road race in the world to prepare you for the Olympics!
Froome also courted controversy on stage eight when he pushed away a spectator after becoming concerned that the flag the fan was carrying was close to flickering between his wheels and handlebars.
Things got more hectic once the race entered the Champs Elysees, the bunch even splitting in the finale as a reduced peloton contested the sprint finish.
Froome, riding for Team Sky, entered the day with a healthy lead after negotiating rainy roads during Saturday’s next-to-last stage in the Alps.
Froome also plans to ride in the time trial, which could be wide open if Dutchman Tom Dumoulin – who suffered a fracture in his wrist during the Tour – is unable to compete.
Vincenzo Nibali, Tour winner in 2014 and victor in this year’s Giro d’Italia, was playing support to his fellow Italian Fabio Aru but the Astana rider was unable to keep pace in the mountains and lost further time in the two individual time trials.
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Greipel narrowly edged world champion Peter Sagan, who was coming on with a late charge.
