Britain’s Chris Froome sealed his third Tour de France title after finishing safely on the final stage of the race, with Germany’s André Greipel powering to victory in the final sprint.
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The champagne flowed for Team Sky as Chris Froome celebrated his third Tour de France triumph – and the team’s fourth in the last five years – on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The 31-year-old Team Sky rider won his third Tour title in three years – 2014 the only blot on the record when he crashed out – on Sunday.
When it comes to the time trial, where he won the bronze medal at London 2012, Froome said that he has “been thinking about it for six months”.
By the time he is back in the saddle, he is well down on his rivals but the times are amended to take into account the crash and the yellow jersey remains with him.
Froome said: “My team mates this yellow jersey is for you as it is for David Brailsford”. “I imagine it will give him a lot of motivation to come back next year and fight for victory”.
Froome moved to within two overall wins of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, who each won five Tours, while the disgraced Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven for doping.
On Sunday Chris Froome entered the elite group of cyclists who have won the Tour de France three times.
“I hope I can be back next year to fight for it again”. But the sun is far from setting on his rule over the Tour de France.
A sometimes robotic character, Froome looked human when, after his bike was broken in a crash involving a motorbike on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, he started to run up the road in one of the most memorable moments of any Tour.
Despite crashing on a treacherous descent on stage 19 and borrowing team-mate Geraint Thomas’ bike to ride the final 12km to the finish, Froome managed to extend his overall lead and then defend it on the final stormy day in the Alps, setting up the processional ride in to Paris. “This is one special team and I’m proud to be a part of it”.
“It’s got to be pretty discouraging”, Froome said, “looking at the guys who are there riding on the front of the race, setting that tempo, to keep the jersey on my shoulders”.
He again claimed victory at the stage 18 mountain time trial from Sallanches to Megève.
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Wiggins has sympathy with any clean Russian athletes denied a spot because, at the 2007 Tour de France, he never made it to Paris because his Cofidis teammate Christian Moreni failed a drugs test. He also declared himself rubbish at time trials, but put in a strong performance in both of the time trials in this year’s tour.
