photo credits @ Le Tour
Chris Froome easily secured his third Tour de France victory today, after finishing safely in the peloton alongside his Sky teammates following an uneventful stage to in Paris.
“To my teammates and support team this is your yellow jersey,” Froome said from the podium. “I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for your commitment. A massive thank you to Dave Brailsford and my coach Tim Kerrison. This is one special team and I’m so proud to be part of it. To Michelle my wife and my son Kellen, your love and support make everything possible. Kellan I dedicate this victory to you.”
“This Tour has taken place against the backdrop of the terrible events in Nice and we pay our respects once again to those who lost their lives. Of course these events put sport into perspective but they also show why the values of sport are so important to free society. We all love the Tour de France because it’s unpredictable but we love the Tour more for what stays the same – the passion of the fans for every nation, the beauty of the French countryside and the bonds of friendship created through sport. These things will never change.”
Meanwhile, Andre Greipel won the final stage on the Champs Elysee, after beating Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) in a mad dash for the finish.
The German sprinter came around his rivals inside the final 100 meters to claim his first and only stage victory in this year’s Tour de France, just as he had done in last year’s final stage in Paris as well.
Race Highlights
As usual, the stage didn’t become animated until the final 8 laps around Paris, where a breakaway group containing Jan Barta (Bora), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Lawson Craddock (Cannondale-Drapac), Brice Feillu (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Jérémy Roy (FDJ) and Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), finally managed to ride clear during the last 50 kilometers.
The breakaway group was later joined by the Sky duo of Luke Rowe and Wout Poels, who succeeded in bridging themselves across to the breakaway group during the final 18 kilometers.
However, with 10 kilometers to go, all of the escapees were caught, as the peloton came back together along the final cobbled loop.
A couple of late crashes took out a few riders, while French sprinter Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) suffered a puncture with 3 kilometers go, thus ending his hopes for winning the final stage.
From there, a series of tight corners served to disrupt the flow of Lotto-Soudal’s sprint train, forcing Greipel to latch onto Kristoff’s wheel before accelerating away on the cobbles.
Sagan was there to mark both rider’s move as well, as Kristoff quickly began to fade.
However, the German powerhouse was able to surge one final time, leaving Sagan unable to match his turn of speed.
Top 20 Finishers
1 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 2:43:08 2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 4 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange 6 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 7 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Drapac 8 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 9 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 10 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 11 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – Merida 12 Daniel Mclay (GBr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 13 Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling 14 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-Step 15 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 16 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 17 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 18 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 19 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team 20 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
Final general classification
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 89:04:48 2 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:05 3 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:04:21 4 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-BikeExchange 0:04:42 5 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:05:17 6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:16 7 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:06:58 8 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida 9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:07:04 10 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team 0:07:11 11 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:13 12 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:18:51 13 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:19:20 14 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ 0:24:59 15 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:28:31 16 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 0:30:42 17 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:38:30 18 Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling 0:38:57 19 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:38:59 20 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:42:28
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