On sunday, the emotion in the words of Dave Brailsford was unmistakable on the Champs-Elysées as he hailed the "champion character" of Tour de France winner Chris Froome. The Team Sky boss won three Tour de France victories in the last four editions of the race.

"He’s an incredible guy, he’s so strong mentally," Brailsford told about his leader according to Cyclingnews. "His resilience is second to none. I don’t think I’ve met anybody like him. It’s a privilege to be able to help him. He’s won the race, it’s all about him and the other guys in the team. The riders deserve all the credit and it’s just nice to be able to say thanks."

"'No, we have to keep on going. We had a chat earlier because this time last year we were very much hurting and we did a brilliant debrief and really went to town on how we are going to turn it around and come back fighting," Brailsford said of the ambition to continue the team’s Tour success. "I think just because you win it doesn’t make any difference so we’ve all ready started to think about picking this one apart and thinking what worked, what didn’t work and planning about coming back next year and doing it all again."

"The more people have a go at you, the more you fight back so I don’t need to do much with the lads when people are having a go and being like they were, it gels them together, it pulls them together," he said. "It gives everybody a common enemy and you just have to guide them in the right direction and let them go. Unbeknownst to them, all the people who criticised us probably helped us win the race."