Chris Froome (Sky) confirmed himself as the winner of the 100th edition of the Tour de France as the race came to spectacular close in Paris.

The British rider crossed the line safely under the lights on the Champs-Elysees to secure back-to-back Tour victories for Team Sky and Great Britain by an imposing margin of four minutes and 20 seconds.

Froome took three stage wins along the way, climbing to mountain-top victories on Ax 3 Domaines (stage eight) and the infamous Mont Ventoux (stage 15). The Sky leader also displayed his all-round strength by winning the undulating stage 17 time trial to Chorges.

The final was always likely to come down to a sprint finish and after 10 laps of the famous circuit Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) edged out a close three-man sprint.

Moments later it was Froome’s turn to celebrate, crossing the line arm-in-arm with his Team Sky team-mates.

After crossing the line an emotional Froome commented on his win: “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,” was Froome’s initial reaction according to his team website.

“I’m speechless. This really was an amazing way to finish of a fitting 100th edition of the Tour de France."

Chris Froome finished the Tour de France 4’20” ahead of Nairo Quintana (Movistar) who finished the three week race as runner-up.