TOUR DE FRANCE winner Chris Froome has spoken of his emotion as he crossed the finish line on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
The 28-year-old’s victory in the 100th edition of the Tour – Team Sky’s second-consecutive general classification success in France – was sealed by a margin of four minutes 20 seconds in Paris.
And Froome, who rolled in alongside his support team at the end of the 133.5-kilometre 21st stage, has revealed his elation at the moment his win was finally sealed.
“It brought tears to my eyes just coming over the line with the guys like that. I expected it to be big but this is something else,” he told ITV. “This was an amazing way to finish off the 100th Tour de France.”
The Kenya-born British rider has been dogged by questions regarding doping throughout the Tour, which was the first to take place since cycling was rocked by seven-time winner Lance Armstrong’s admission of guilt over the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs.
However, Froome insists he is happy to be the face of a cleaner sport, and claimed his fellow competitors would not stand for any cheating.
“In a way I’m glad that I’ve had to face (doping) questions,” he added.
“After all the revelations last year and the tarnished history over the last decade, I’m glad that all that has been channeled towards me now… and hopefully that has sent a strong message to the cycling world that the sport has changed.
“It really has, the Peloton is standing together now, the riders are uniting and it’s not going to be accepted anymore.”
