Chris Froome (Sky) capped the third consecutive win for Team Sky in the Criterium du Dauphiné with a 2nd place finish in the final stage to Risoul, once again underlining his superiority in the race. Describing the victory as a massive achievement, the Briton has now won four stage races so far this season and marked himself out as number one favourite for the Tour de France.

When Chris Froome lined up at the Criterium du Dauphiné, he did nothing to hide that he was at the race to continue Team Sky's winning run in the event which had in 2011 and 2012 been won by teammate Bradley Wiggins. After a week of repeated demonstrations of power, he achieved his goal at the end of today's final stage to Risoul, thus underlining his position as Sky captain and number one favourite for the Tour.

The foundations for the win were laid in the stage 4 time trial where a 3rd place finish moved him far ahead of all of his key rivals for the race. When he burst clear to distance everyone in the summit finish in Valmorel the following day, he took over the lead and from then on the outcome was never in doubt.

The win continues his fantastic run of success so far this season as he has now added no less than four stage races to his name so far, despite have net even claimed a single one prior to the season. Today's win was a repeat of the Criterium International where his nearest challenger was also teammate Richie Porte and the British team thus capped their second consecutive 1-2 in the Alpine event after Wiggins' and Michael Rogers' exploits last year.

While the wins in the Tour of Oman, Criterium International and Tour de Romandie were fantastic result, Froome does nothing to hide that this one carries a special significance.

 "This win is a massive achievement for me," he said. "I was using the Dauphine as build up to the Tour de France, but to have come away with the victory here, I couldn’t have asked for any more, and to have my best friend in second place is the perfect scenario."

Today's stage reminded a lot of people of last year's Tour de France where Froome was repeatedly asked to wait for Bradley Wiggins in the mountain stages. Today he once again slowed down to support a teammate but this time it appeared much more to be by his own choice.

Having attacked with Porte in his wheel with 2km still to go, the Briton was on a mission to secure his teammate the stage win. Lone leader Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) was still more than 30 seconds ahead, and they had to go full gas to reel in the early escapee.

Porte was, however, unable to keep up with his captain and so they missed the stage win. Instead, they were caught by Andrew Talansky (Garmin), forcing Froome to show his superiority by sprinting to a convincing second on the stage.

"It would have been great to win the stage as well but we have already won two of those this week and it just proved impossible to reel in De Marchi in the end," he said.

Froome is now firmly at the top of the list of favourites for the Tour but the Briton keeps his usual cautious approach, pointing to 6 riders that could deny him the win

"We’ve got some good reasons to be confident with such a great team but in cycling, nothing is granted," he said. "It’ll be an advantage to have two riders able to target high positions on GC. It’s a very favorable situation."

"I have won the Dauphine, and other races before, but the counter is back to zero when the Tour starts. There will be six to seven main contenders for overall victory. The names? Contador, Valverde, Rodriguez, Evans, Van Garderen, Quintana are all capable of strong rides."

Before Froome will start his final build-up phase for the Tour, he will, however, allow himself time for a little celebration.

"Tonight I’ll be able to have a drink with my team-mates to celebrate this great win," he said. "In the coming days, we’ll go and recognize some mountain stages of the Tour."

Sports director Nicolas Portal pointed to the effect that Froome's constant ability to deliver results had on team morale.

“It was nice to finish with such a fantastic performance," he said. "The team were super strong and then Froomey and Richie rounded it off in style. Those two have ticked off every goal they’ve set this season, raced hard, and enjoyed a lot of success. That breeds massive confidence within the rest of team because they know their efforts won’t be wasted and that Richie and Froomey can deliver the results."

The win is not only due to the captains themselves but also due to a fantastic team effort. Throughout most of the race, the team has spend endless of hours on the front, and today was no exception as the team's solid work reduced the main bunch to a select group of riders before the captains took off.

“They all performed brilliantly today, even David (Lopez, ed.), who has been struggling with sickness," Portal said. "He deserves a mention because he showed his character today. He was taking clothing to and from the car, collecting bidons and riding hard before we instructed him to call it a day.”

The team does not plan to leave France for now, instead choosing to use the opportunity to take a closer look at some of the key Tour stages in the Alps.

“We will spend the next two days reconning key stages in the area and then travel over to Chatel for our pre-Tour training camp,” Portal added. “That will last a week and then the riders will take a few days off before travelling over to Corsica at the end of the month.”

The Tour de France starts with a road stage on Corsica on June 29.