Froome defies bad luck, crashes to win 3rd Tour de France

Chris Froome, a Kenyan-born Briton, overcame a couple of wild crashes to win his third Tour de France in Paris on Sunday.

He safely crossed the finishing line with his Sky team-mates on the Champs-Elysees in Paris at the end of the 21st and final stage, which was largely a processional ride. But this is another stage win at the Tour de France.

Froome finished with an nearly three-minute advantage over Frenchman Romain Bardet with Nairo Quintana, the runner-up in 2013 and 2015, third. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) secured fifth place after a late stage 2 puncture cost him any serious tilt at the general classification.

Majka, who is a Tinkoff team-mate of Sagan, won the polka dot king of the mountains jersey for a second time, beating Thomas de Gendt by 79 points.

He attacked on his archrival’s water break down the slopes of the Col de Peyresourde, finished in blistering crosswinds next to Peter Sagan, rode two perfect-down-to-the-watt time trials and literally ran towards the finish line up Mont Ventoux.

Froome had built his 2013 and 2015 victories on stunning attacks in the mountains, but he triumphed this year by surprising his rivals on descents and the flat.

During the three-week race, he crashed twice, including one incident where his bike was broken in a collision with a motorcycle.

All nine Team Sky riders made it to Paris in support of Chris Froome.

The 31-year-old, who started the 146.5-km stage with a bandage on his right knee following a crash on Friday, was never threatened on a stormy and rainy day in the Alps.

Things got more hectic once the race entered the Champs Elysees, the bunch even splitting in the finale as a reduced peloton contested the sprint finish.

“I’ve raced for three weeks for that”, Greipel said. Please see our terms of service for more information.

“Although we haven’t won the team competition, we’ve had by far the strongest team in this race and I’m incredibly grateful for that”.

“Credit to the French public, the race continued”.

German rider Andre Greipel won the last-gasp sprint finish on Sunday in Paris, claiming his first stage win of this year’s Tour.

Given the recent terror attack in Nice which killed 89 people, Froome also reserved kind words for the French people and the possibility of sport to bring people together. “The team has been fantastic and I couldn’t be prouder of all of them”.

Froome has vowed to try for more victories on the Tour, having joined Belgian Philippe Thys, American Greg LeMond and France’s Louison Bobet as triple winners.

Cavendish, the Manx Missile, is now second on the overall stage win list with 30, behind only Eddy Merckx on 34, the five-time Tour victor and Belgian legend still top of the pile.

‘It would be my dream to keep coming back for the next five or six years and give myself the best opportunity of winning again, ‘ Froome said just before the final stage.