By sportsnewsarena correspondent
Jul 22, 2013
He was the dominant force in the 100th Tour de France and even though Christopher Froome lost 53 seconds to the winner of the final stage and 43 seconds to his nearest rival in the general classification, the Sky team sealed its second successive victory in the Tour de France at the end of the evening spectacle on the streets of Paris.
The finish was around 9.40pm in the city of lights and the stars came out to shine: the four at the top of the sprinters classification had a drag race to the line to determine the winner of the 21st stage and it was Marcel Kittel who began the Tour as he started it - with a victory.
The German won in Bastia, St-Malo and Tours (stages one, 10 and 12) and he topped off a stunning second appearance by holding off a late challenge from the four-time winner in Paris, Mark Cavendish.
Behind the battle of the sprinters, the celebrations had begun. Chris Froome, born in Kenya would roll over the finish line arm-in-arm with team-mate David Lopez and with Richie Porte by his side.
The grin on his face spelled out the relief and satisfaction of becoming the second British champion of the Tour and the first rider born in Africa to take home the yellow jersey.
He ended his emphatic campaign with an advantage of 4'20, over the best young rider - and King of the Mountains - Nairo Quintana.
He last competed for Kenya at the 2007 All Africa Games where he won bronze before he switched nationality.
"I get a lot of inspiration from reading messages from fans who say that just watching the Tour de France makes them want to get out on their bikes or start cycling," said the champion of the 2013 Tour.
"That's what this is about. It's one of the main reasons we're here, why Sky is sponsoring us - to get that kind of response and support from the public back home is a really cool feeling."
