The 28-year-old crossed the line in the Champs Elysées 4mins 20secs ahead of Movistar rider Nairo Quintana to secure a dominant victory in the overall classification, and afterwards dedicated his win to his mother Jane who died from cancer in 2008.

Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez finished in third place overall, a further 54 seconds behind Colombian Quintana.

Germany's Marcel Kittel edged out compatriot André Greipel and Britain's Mark Cavendish in a pulsating sprint finish to the 21st and final stage of the Tour, in front of a 350,000-strong crowd in the French capital.

Cavendish, who claimed two stage wins in this year's Tour, was attempting to finish an eventful three weeks - which saw the Manx man allegedly doused in urine by an onlooker earlier in the race, while also suffering a front wheel puncture on the third lap of the Champs Elysées - on a high by claiming his fifth straight final stage win and 26th overall but he lost out on becoming the third most successful Tour cyclist in terms of stage wins behind Eddy Merckx with 34 and Bernard Hinault with 26.

As tradition dictates, Froome's final stage was virtually a procession and he even sipped some champagne given to him by members of Team Sky, as the riders made their way along the 133-kilometre stage from Versailles to the centre of Paris.


Flanked by his Team Sky teammates and main wingman Australian Richie Porte, Froome crossed the line to officially become the winner of cycling's showpiece event after a total of 83 hours 56mins 20secs in the saddle covering 3,404km.

"I don't think 'happiness' quite describes how I feel," said Froome, who finished second behind Wiggins in last year's Tour.

"I think it's going to take quite a while to sink in.

"Crossing the line with [the] guys brought tears to my eyes.

"I expected it to be big but this is something else.

"Dave [Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford] has been talking about the future of cycling - the youngsters coming through and the way the sport is moving.

"I look at the last decade and the way sport is going - we've got something to be proud of.

"I'd like to thank my teammates, who have buried themselves day in day out throughout this Tour to keep this yellow jersey on my shoulders, and the Team Sky management for believing in my ability and building this team around me."

The foundation of Froome's success was built on his performances in the mountain stages where he finished second in the classification to Quintana who claimed the polka-dot jersey for top climber and white jersey for best young rider, while Slovakian Peter Sagan retained his green jersey as leading points scorer.

Froome, who was born in Nairobi, Kenya to a British father and grew up in South Africa, took the lead of the race on stage eight by winning the Ax 3 Domaines in the Pyrenees, he followed that up with an even more impressive effort to win the punishing Mont Ventoux climb on stage 15 and victory was virtually assured when he won the 17th stage which was the Chorges time trial.

British Cycling's President Brian Cookson hailed Froome's success, saying it capped the greatest 12 months in the history of British cycling, which saw the nation's athletes dominate at last year's home Olympic Games and claim back to back Tour de France wins.



























"Chris Froome's victory in the biggest bike race in the world rounds off what has been a truly glorious year in the history of cycling in this country," said Cookson, who is running against incumbent Pat McQuaid for the Presidency of the International Cycling Union (UCI) which will be decided at the UCI Congress in Florence on September 27.

"Sir Bradley Wiggins started the ball rolling last year, followed by a wonderful London 2012.

"Their achievements have been matched by a growth in our membership of over 50 per cent in the last 12 months.

"Chris' performance is testament to both his commitment and talent and of all the people who have contributed to his success.

"And he is not the only success of this year's Tour.

"Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh and Ian Stannard have all excelled and they are all products of British Cycling talent programmes."

Cookson, who has been President of British Cycling since 1997, added: "Success on the world stage has without doubt inspired more people to get into recreational riding.

"Almost 30,000 people have joined British Cycling since Bradley won the Tour last year, 100 new cycling clubs have been formed and there are more people entering events and doing personal challenge rides than ever before.

"Chris's victory is keeping our sport very much in the national spotlight and long may that continue."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
July 2013: Froome zooms to Ventoux victory
July 2013: Vos and Pooley petition for women to be on start-line of 2014 Tour de France
July 2013: Jaimie Fuller: The Tour de France and an early illustration of why cycling is worth fighting for
July 2013: McQuaid claims he has "transformed sport" during time as UCI President as launches manifesto for third term
June 2013: I'd feel confident for UCI's future if Cookson became President, says Olympic champion