Chris Froome wins third Tour de France title

Chris Froome has won his third Tour de France title in four years, confirming his status as one of the all-time greats on the world’s most gruelling race.

Becoming the first man to successfully defend his title in more than 20 years, Froome finished with a 4 minutes, 5 second advantage over Frenchman Romain Bardet, while Nairo Quintana of Colombia was third overall, 4:21 back.

“It’s an absolutely amazing feeling. It feels like a privilege to be in this positon,” Froome said as he praised his Sky team-mates for their support after a day on which German Andre Greipel won the final stage on Paris’ Champs-Elysees.

“I’ve always had my team-mates around me. This race was even tougher. We haven’t won the team competition but by far we’ve had the strongest team here – I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

Froome won two stages during the race, taking his personal haul to seven in what was his most dominant performance yet.

It was Team Sky’s fourth Tour triumph in five years after Bradley Wiggins prevailed in 2012 before Froome succeeded him in 2013.

It was also a coming of age for Bardet, who won a stage for the second year in a row and demonstrated impressive progression after finishing sixth in 2014 and ninth last year.

Peter Sagan was also a shining light, with the world champion winning three stages and claiming the green points jersey for the fifth year in a row.

The Tour finished with a record 175 riders reaching the line in Paris while Australia’s Chloe Hosking won the women’s 89km one-day race around Paris that preceded the arrival of the men’s peloton.