His fourth stage win made was his most ever at one Tour, as well as being his maiden win on the famous Parisian boulevard.
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“Probably in consistency. To be able to look at a three week race [you need] to roll with the bad days as well as the good days”, Froome said when asked about what Porte needs to improve his grand tour performances.
The 109.5-kilometres concluding stage from Sevres to the Champs-Elysees is traditionally a procession and saw Froome sip champagne and pose for photographs with his team-mates. “Without you guys I would not be standing up here: this is your yellow jersey as much as it is mine”.
Froome could feel the yellow jersey slipping away on the climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer as Quintana and his Movistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde, who finished third overall, turned the screw. That was something Froome addressed in his victory speech on the Champs-Elysees when he spoke of honouring the yellow jersey and its history – a point he reiterated on Monday.
The 30-year-old Briton, who resisted Nairo Quintana’s late charge in the Alps to repeat his 2013 triumph, endured a torrid race during which he was jeered, spat at and had urine thrown at him due to ongoing suspicions of doping.
Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford, meanwhile, insisted that allegations of doping and abuse from spectators proved inspirational to his riders and contributed significantly to Froome’s victory.
Froome, however, stayed on his bike, unlike earlier leaders Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin, who left the race after crashing in an incident-ridden race. “I’m only 25. I have years ahead to win this race”.
“I’m looking forward to a rest now”, said the Lotto-Soudal rider.
There were some landmark moments on the Tour, such as Briton Stephen Cummings becoming the first rider for an African team, MTN-Qhubeka, to win a stage on the Tour when he powered past Frenchman Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot inside the last kilometre to prevail in Mende on Mandela Day (July 18). Admittedly, Thibaut Pinot covered himself in glory with an epic Alpe d’Huez victory, but after last year’s third place for the FDJ rider he was never a factor in the hunt for yellow.
“I’ve been doing this for 15-16 years now (with British Cycling), we won a lot of Olympic medals and used the same methodology to come to Sky and create Team Sky and the same methodology worked again, so you can believe in us”, he told.
“It wasn’t aimed at the Tour de France, it’s not terrorism, it’s just a simple refusal to comply, as there are many every day”.
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“The rise in fan interest internationally, especially in markets such as the UAE, provides some crucial clues as to potential future investors into the Tour and the sport more generally”, said Repucom’s Mike Wragg.
