Chris Froome rode a wave of hostility to his first two Tour de France wins, but had an easier time out of the saddle on his way to a third, winning respect if not love from the tough French crowds.
The Briton’s first two titles were accompanied by tense moments with some spectators, while questions about cycling’s doping past were never far away.
This year, Froome was more relaxed and spontaneous as the crowds seemingly warmed to the Kenyan-born rider.
He built his 2013 and 2015 victories on stunning attacks in the climbs, but he triumphed this year by surprising his rivals on descents and the flat.
A sometimes robotic character, Froome looked human when, after his bike was broken in a crash involving a motorbike on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, he started to run up the road in one of the most memorable moments of any Tour.
It earned Froome sympathy from the crowd, as did his crash on the penultimate stage, which left him with a bloodied knee.
That was not enough to unsettle the Briton, who with his third title in four years, has become a more popular figure in the race after being grilled by the media on doping issues and had urine thrown at him by a spectator last year.
“I think for quite a lot of reasons, I’ve put that to rest now,” Froome said. “I’ve done a lot in terms of offering up my physiological data and trying to be open to people as much as I can while protecting a competitive advantage at the same time.
“Things have been put into perspective for us, by the attack in Nice and what’s been happening. But credit to the French public, the race continued.
“It’s a strong sign that life goes on,” he said referring to the recent incident in which a delivery driver killed 84 people and injured many more when he drove his truck through a Bastille Day crowd on the seafront at the Riviera city.
The 31-year-old is grateful to the public and he knows he also owes his success to his team mates, who like Wouter Poels, kept him safe throughout and formed the most formidable team assembled in years.
“I feel so privileged to be in this position where I’ve always had team mates around me in the race,” he said.
“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.”
Froome has already vowed he will try for more victories on the Tour, having joined Belgian Philippe Thys, American Greg LeMond and France’s Louison Bobet as triple winners.
Ahead of him are five-times champions Miguel Indurain of Spain, Belgian great Eddy Merckx and Frenchmen Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil.
“It would be my dream to keep coming back to the Tour for the next five to six years if I can and give it my best shot. I hope I can do that next year,” said Froome. (From Reuters: Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Rex Gowar/Toby Davis)
Stage 21 Brief Results:
- Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 2:43:08″
- Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Tinkoff) ST
- Alexander Kristoff (Norway / Katusha)
- Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Dimension Data)
- Michael Matthews (Australia / Orica)
- Jasper Stuyven (Belgium / Trek)
- Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania / Cannondale)
- Christophe Laporte (France / Cofidis)
- Sam Bennett (Ireland / BORA)
- Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa / Dimension Data)
Final General Classification:
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 89:04:48″
- Romain Bardet (France / AG2R) +4:05″
- Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +4:21″
- Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +4:42″
- Richie Porte (Australia / BMC Racing) +5:17″
- Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +6:16″
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +6:58″
- Louis Meintjes (South Africa / Lampre)
- Daniel Martin (Ireland / Etixx – Quick-Step) +7:04″
- Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Tinkoff) +7:11″