Team Sky rider Chris Froome won the famed Tour de France title for a third time on Sunday when he crossed the finish line of the 21-stage race in Paris.
The feat meant that Froome becomes the first man to defend the Tour de France title in 20 years, having raced to victory last year in cycling’s most iconic event. He also won the three-week race in 2013.
Despite cycling as a British rider, 31-year-old Froome was born in Kenya, and has been an inspiration to many young African cyclists with ambitions of emulating their hero.
Romain Bardet of France came second overall in the race, behind Froome by four minutes and five seconds, while Colombia’s Nairo Quintana was third.
Despite the fact that Andre Greipel won the final sprint finish, Froome’s incredible performance throughout the race meant that he was the overall victor, and could focus on the feeling of earning his third Tour crown.
“It’s like the first time, it’s amazing. Every time it’s special,” Froome said after the race, according to BBC.
“It’s an absolutely amazing feeling. It feels like a privilege to be in this position. I’ve always had my team-mates around me. This race was even tougher. We haven’t won the team competition but by far we’ve had the strongest team here – I’m incredibly grateful for that,” he added.
With his third Tour de France title in the bag, Kenyan-born Froome is now allowing himself to concentrate on the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio.
He will take part in the road race and time trial events at Rio 2016, and is hoping to find success in Brazil.
When discussing the road race, Froome admits that it will not be an easy race, but he has faith in a strong British team that he will be part of.
“It’s more of a gamble, being a one-day race and having such small teams, only five per nation. It’s going to be an extremely hard race to judge tactically, you can’t just put eight guys on the front and hold it back for the last climb and make it as selective as possible,” Froome explained to The Guardian.
“With the looks of the team that we’ve got, the inclusion of Steve Cummings, we can be competitive, and to have a result there would be phenomenal,” he added.
Regarding the time trial, he was more excited and felt that the event may cater to his strengths due to the fact that it is a longer time trial than riders typically race.
“I’ve been thinking about it for six months. The course suits me well, it has 1,000 metres of climbing, and is 60 kilometres,” he said.
Having won the bronze medal in the Olympic time trial at the London Olympics four years ago, Froome will be looking to improve on that achievement in Brazil.
