Sunday, 26 July 2015

Froome Wins Second Tour de France Title

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Germany’s Andre Greipel won the final stage—his fourth this year—after outsprinting the competition on the historic Champs Elysees. - By AFP/Bicycling

Photo: ASO/Letour.fr

Photo: ASO/Letour.fr

Chris Froome won his second Tour de France following Sunday’s final stage to Paris. Germany’s Andre Greipel won the stage, his fourth this year, ahead of Frenchman Bryan Coquard and Alexander Kristoff of Norway. Team MTN-Qhubeka’s Edvald Boasson Hagen finished fourth.

Froome crossed the line arm-in-arm with his Sky teammates to clinch a second Tour crown following his 2013 success. Colombian Nairo Quintana finished second overall with his Spanish Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde taking third, his best finish at the Tour at the age of 35.

Rain had rendered the cobbles at the finish on the Champs Elysees dangerous so organisers ASO neutralised the race from the moment it reached Paris. It meant the official timing was stopped just after riders passed the finishing line for the first time ahead of 10 laps of the famous Parisian avenue. That allowed Froome, 30, and his teammates—wearing a black kit with the traditional blue stripe replaced by a yellow one in hommage to their leader’s feat—to finish in a straight line, arm-in-arm over a minute after the stage winner.

Team Sky crossed the line in similar fashion in 2013, when Froome also won ahead of Nairo Quintana. This year, Quintana finished 1 minute 12 seconds behind Froome with Valverde third over five minutes back. Last year’s winner Vincenzo Nibali finished fourth overall, ahead of two-time former winner Alberto Contador.

But on the final stage, a 109.5km run from the Parisian suburb of Sevres, Greipel, 33, emphasised his sprint superiority at this Tour. He had already won the second, fifth and 15th stages in sprint finishes. His expected rivals, Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan, could only manage sixth and seventh respectively.

Sagan did win the sprinter’s green points jersey, though, while Froome finished as king of the mountains and Quintana, 25, was the best young rider.

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