“Thanks for your kindness in these hard times”. “You’re in the zone, going through the motions of road racing. Vive le Tour, Vive la France”.
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Gathering in a school courtyard to celebrate his win, the pupils started cheering and chanting “Froome!”
“My son, Kellan, I dedicate this victory to you”, said Froome.
Speaking back at the Sky bus after the final stage on the Champs-Elysees in which Andre Greipel continued his record of winning in every Grand Tour he enters.
Froome rode a special yellow bike to match his yellow leader’s jersey, helmet, gloves and shoes. His teammates had yellow stripes on their jerseys and yellow handlebars on their bikes.
Froome, who was also champion in 2013 and a year ago, finished ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet in second and Nairo Quintana of Colombia in third.
Only four riders have more Tour wins – with five each – than Froome: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
In another crucial change, Froome also said that compared with 2015, he had had a much warmer welcome from the French, too. In the foothills of the Pyrenees he left behind a four-man breakaway, including former Tour de France victor Vincenzo Nibali, and cycled the last 26km (16 miles) alone, finishing one minute ahead of the nearest chaser. I’ve raced for three weeks for that. “It’s beyond what I’ve ever dreamed”.
Team Sky rode the Tour more aggressively than any of their previous wins and team principal Brailsford enjoyed it so much he is already looking forward to next year’s race.
“I knew that because I won that last time trial by a minute and a half, all I had to do was keep my head on for ten days and do the same performance”.
Here Sportsmail looks at five key stages where Froome won the Tour.
Although the delay this caused initially led to Froome falling behind rival Adam Yates, race organizers later ruled that he should be awarded the same time as Bauke Mollema who also crashed into the motorbike but was able to carry on.
Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford, known for his attention to detail, said: “We do a lot of scenario planning and we try to think of everything”.
Froome lost time on today’s processional into Paris but that was because of the now traditional roll over the line arm-in-arm with his team-mates.
Froome survived two crashes and even a jog up a mountain road on the way to his third title.
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Wiggins said: “It’s more disappointing for the clean athletes there that want to compete”.
